Getting Started with Paragraph: A Decentralized Substack, a Subscription-Based Writing Platform with Deep Web3 Integration
#595
GM,
Last week, I mentioned not feeling the bullish market vibes, and who would have thought that Bitcoin would soon hit a historic high in terms of US dollars.
This article discusses Web3 applications, and I highly recommend those who finish reading it to give it a try right away. Blocktrend is the earliest subscription-based media in Taiwan to operate on Substack. In the past few years, if someone wanted to run a blog and establish a direct relationship with readers through email, Substack was my top recommendation.
However, Substack's position has recently been a bit shaky due to another competitor – Paragraph – which aligns more with my ultimate vision for a subscription-based writing platform. In 2022, Blocktrend introduced Paragraph1, but at that time, it was just getting started, and its features were far behind Substack. It was suitable for personal interests, but using it for business was too risky.
Unexpectedly, two years later, Paragraph has undergone a significant transformation. Recently, I migrated the newly established "Week in PGF" from Substack to Paragraph. If the experience is positive, I might move Blocktrend's English version there in the future, and it's not impossible to consider relocating the entire Blocktrend Chinese content to Paragraph.
In this article, I will first share my experience in selecting writing platforms and then discuss what makes Paragraph stand out.
Convenience and Autonomy
While any platform allows you to publish articles, establishing a blog requires finding a place to take root. Food and travel bloggers may choose Pixnet, while those averse to being inundated with ads may opt for Medium.
Initially, Blocktrend started on Medium, a platform known for its simplicity. However, authors on Medium often feel like digital sharecroppers, lacking knowledge of their readership and relying on algorithms to determine the visibility of their articles. Furthermore, revenue-sharing is directly tied to traffic, creating a dependence on fluctuating popularity.
Later, Blocktrend switched to building its website on WordPress, an open-source web development tool known for its high degree of autonomy. After three years, I decided to leave because managing everything independently became too burdensome. Substack emerged as a more suitable writing platform for individual creators.
Positioned between Medium and WordPress, Substack serves a large number of creators, continuously developing new features based on practical needs. Authors can easily enable or disable these features, making it a user-friendly platform. Additionally, Substack allows authors to maintain a degree of autonomy, even permitting them to export their readers' direct contact information—email—when moving. This feature makes Substack the most balanced platform in terms of convenience and autonomy, attracting numerous bloggers to join.
However, Substack is ultimately a Web2 platform and appears reluctant in embracing Web3 features. Even though supporting cryptocurrency payments is no longer a technical challenge, it remains a unique privilege for only a few Substack users. Integration of features like collecting Writing NFTs2 or decentralized storage into Substack seems to be a distant possibility. I used to think every writing platform was similar, and Substack was already quite good. It wasn't until I recently tried out Paragraph that I realized the value of making comparisons.
Three Highlights
Paragraph is a subscription-based writing platform that is better suited for Web3 creators, offering a Web3-friendly alternative from the moment you create an account—registering through a wallet without the need for a login password. No password means no risk of leakage. However, what amazed me the most was the new features after logging in. According to the Paragraph introduction:
Paragraph is a native Web3 subscription-based writing platform, providing creators with new ways to build communities, connect with readers, and monetize content. We use the Web3 features of permanent storage and immutability to enhance email and blogging. Additionally, there are on-chain social graphs, encrypted payment channels, and the ability to send newsletters through wallets that can be carried anywhere.
Paragraph seems like a loyal reader of Blocktrend, incorporating all the Web3 experiments conducted by Blocktrend over the past few years into built-in platform features. For me, it's a dream come true.
The first highlight is that Paragraph not only supports credit card payments for subscriptions but also simultaneously supports cryptocurrency for regular recurring payments. The screenshot below shows the backend, where the blue buttons from top to bottom allow setting the payment amount, connecting to a Stripe payment account, and configuring a cryptocurrency wallet address.
Cryptocurrency payments are typically one-time transactions, but Paragraph utilizes the services of the Web3 startup Loop Crypto, supporting recurring payments. What's impressive is that once readers authorize a transaction, they no longer need to pay on-chain transaction fees for future recurring payments. This significantly enhances the user experience of using cryptocurrency. Next week, I will dedicate an article to introduce Loop Crypto separately.
Another highlight of Paragraph is allowing readers to directly collect article NFTs on the platform. This is a Web3 feature that Blocktrend has continuously implemented since 2021. Previously, readers had to deliberately visit OURSONG3 or LikerLand to collect NFTs. Not only was the process cumbersome, but after three years, with no tangible returns, it became challenging to keep people engaged. Paragraph integrates this feature with a recommendation mechanism, making it more intuitive and flexible.
Paragraph not only incorporates a built-in collection button below each article, encouraging readers to add them to their wallets if they like. If someone else shares the article, the original sharer can also earn a share as a referral reward. If you only resonate with a particular segment of the article, Paragraph allows readers to choose any section to forge into an NFT.
In addition to this, collecting articles also presents an opportunity for surprise airdrops. For example, in a recent Optimism airdrop, the reward recipients were creators or collectors who had issued NFTs in the past year. On average, each person could receive rewards worth $1,800, approximately 56,000 TWD in OP tokens. Not only do you earn money, but you also get to permanently collect articles, a win-win situation.
The concept of permanent storage in Web3 is the third highlight I observed in Paragraph, particularly evident in the website migration process. Although I was aware that publishing articles on decentralized drives like IPFS4 or Arweave5 could offer near-permanent storage, it wasn't until this migration that I truly grasped the significance of permanent storage.
The content published by authors on Substack actually resides in Substack's centralized drive. When moving, Substack provides a zip file for authors to pack and take with them. However, the problem with this process is that if Substack suddenly shuts down, the content not yet downloaded will disappear.
This highlights the advantages of decentralized storage. Mirror is another Web3 writing platform6 that automatically saves articles on Arweave for authors. This difference may not be noticeable in day-to-day usage but becomes evident when you need to migrate.
The process of moving from Mirror to Paragraph is effortless; just providing the URL is enough. Paragraph automatically retrieves the articles from Arweave based on the URL. Even if Mirror unexpectedly closes, the advantage of having content on Arweave is that migration is always possible.
Lastly, I'd like to add one more point about content unlocking with tokens. Blocktrend introduces a lifetime membership upgrade every 100 issues, accompanied by NFT gifts for lifetime members. Currently, these NFTs are primarily honorary. However, Paragraph supports token unlocking, finally allowing readers to unlock content with their lifetime member NFTs. Paragraph integrates all these Web3 features on its platform, allowing members to receive NFTs as membership certificates when subscribing. How can I resist being intrigued by all these features?
The Significance of the Setting
Discovering “Paragraph” excited me throughout the entire weekend and highlighted the importance of establishing Web3 use cases. All the mentioned features were previously individual mechanisms scattered across various corners of the internet. Despite my attempts to integrate cryptocurrency payments, NFT collections, decentralized storage, and even token unlocking into Blocktrend, attempting to let everyone experience them, Substack's lack of support ultimately forced me to embed them in articles using hyperlinks.
While hyperlinks are useful, they fail to emphasize the importance of these Web3 features and can easily lead people to believe that they are merely short-term marketing gimmicks rather than long-term essential functionalities. Now, Paragraph integrates them into the writing platform as built-in features, allowing for a complete interpretation of the importance of each Web3 feature. They are not just optional toys but rather new methods that can directly replace existing functionalities.
Wallet login provides more autonomy than email login, cryptocurrency payments showcase financial freedom more than fiat payments, storing articles on Arweave is more secure than storing them on Substack. The subscription fee charged by Paragraph (5%) is more economical than the fee charged by Substack (10%), and holding a member NFT is more valuable than having it recorded in Substack's closed database.
In the past, these were just idealistic discussions among Web3 enthusiasts, but Paragraph finally turns these imaginings into reality.
Blocktrend is an independent media platform sustained by reader subscription fees. If you find Blocktrend's articles valuable, we welcome you to share this piece. You can also join discussions on our member-created Discord or collect the Writing NFT to include this article in your Web3 records.
Furthermore, please consider recommending Blocktrend to your friends and family. If you successfully refer a friend who subscribes, you'll receive a complimentary one-month extension of your membership. You can find past issues in the article list. As readers often inquire about referral codes, I have compiled them on a dedicated page for your convenience. Feel free to make use of them.