Keybase

Privacy, confidentiality, cryptography are just some of the words we will be hearing more and more in the years to come, not surprising, considering our ever-so-increasing concerns regarding data security.
Even though neither the concept of data encryption and the tools around it are not especially new, one thing's for sure: using comprehensive encryption methods is not exactly something that most typical users are able to handle.
Well, Keybase aims to have an important saying in the matter. More to the point, Keybase is an open-source platform, built on the model of a somewhat-basic social network, that aims to simplify the whole end-to-end encryption process and make it widely accessible, both for communication and file sharing purposes.
It started life as both a command-line utility and as a web application, and now it also comes with clients, found under the same moniker, for Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as for two of the most popular mobile platforms, iOS, and Android.

Encryption technology and social media structure, neatly intertwined 

With that out of the way, let's concentrate on the basics. The app provides you with a secure environment for sharing files, as well as for chatting purposes, thanks to its built-in encryption features.
Another interesting aspect is just how much this platform resembles a typical social media network. For instance, you can look up people and follow them, just as you're used to doing on Facebook or Twitter, for example.
Furthermore, it's perfectly capable of "mapping" your identity to your public key. For instance, it allows you to link your profile to other accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, GitHub, Hacker News, and it even allows you to setup Bitcoin or Zcash addresses.

Complex underpinnings, yet super-intuitive user interface

Better yet, it's actually fairly easy to use, mainly thanks to a modern and relatively simplistic user interface. Everything you need is located in the vertical toolbar on the left side of the main window, which hosts six, self-explanatory categories, as follows: Search, Folders, Chat, Devices, Settings, and Profile.
It may be a bit frustrating to get it fully up and running, since it requires you to create an account, validate it and link various accounts to your profile - which also require you to undergo yet another "proving" procedure.

Encrypted file sharing and secure chat, now easier than ever before

Having said all that, Keybase is an app with a very interesting concept behind it that's quite relevant to our times. It's backed up by a very well-sorted platform that allows you to securely chat and share files thanks to high-end encryption technology, all wrapped in a package that basically works very much like a social media network.