Insomnia can't sleep, lying in bed thinking about the article I saw before introducing xlog. In fact, there are two reasons that have been bothering me to try it. The first reason is that web3 is very stressful for someone like me who almost doesn't understand technology. The second reason is that this community feels mainly technical-oriented, and I'm afraid of being criticized if I post random thoughts.
Try a new blog system#
Actually, it feels more like a blog community rather than a blog system. The content format is similar to that of Jianshu, but it uses web3 technology. Because of web3 technology, I feel that most people who play with this are programmers. As someone who doesn't know how to code, I don't know if I can keep up with it. Usually, I just post my random thoughts on my blog.
I started using blogs almost 10 years ago, starting with WordPress. The process of setting it up was quite fun (for someone who just started using the internet like me), but it was quite bloated, and deploying a blog required various costs (domain name, server, and even being DDoSed for a site with little traffic). Then I came across hexo, a static page blog. The advantage of this is that it is fast (although it slows down when there are many things in hexo, so I switched to hugo), but every time I update, I have to write it in Markdown locally and then push it to GitHub using Git. I'm not a programmer, so it's a hassle for me to use this.
Actually, thinking about it, the reason why I wanted to start a blog in the first place is quite funny. I couldn't stand the fact that I had to go through the platform's review process for everything I posted, so I decided to create my own platform. Ten years ago, that was still a relatively relaxed era of review (at least compared to now), and it was all about rebellion.
So when I heard about the design concept of xlog, I was slightly intrigued.
I just don't know if xlog supports exporting, because I'm currently using hugo for my blog. If it supports exporting, I feel like I can keep two versions, with one as a backup website.
Although I like writing, I'm a bit embarrassed to let others read what I write. So posting content in the community may not be my original intention for blogging. My original intention for blogging may just be to settle my own thoughts. I like a quote from the Argentine writer Borges: "I write not for fame, nor for specific readers, I write to find peace as time passes."
Confusion about web3#
I just registered a wallet, but I don't know how to use it, I'm very confused. Web3 seems to emphasize immutability (although theoretically it can be tampered with, it is almost impossible to get enough votes to do so), but I haven't found any simple and understandable articles to popularize how to use it, or I haven't seen any application scenarios. Although a blog community is a good attempt, blogs have always been difficult to monetize.
I remember seeing a trading platform before, and I was puzzled. It said that distributed currency had to be traded on a central exchange, so how could it overthrow the central exchange?
And why do I need an immutable attribute in this blog? Of course, other platforms can block or delete accounts, and the immutability of blogs doesn't seem to be that significant, unless you write some politically sensitive content that would get your account banned on other platforms. The only thing that the operation can do is not push it to others, but theoretically it is still on the chain.
Speaking of which, I still don't understand what blockchain is until now. They say these things are packaged in blocks, but where are the blocks stored? Are they turned into a string of numbers using an algorithm or something?
Maybe programmers need to start introducing what blockchain is from "hello world" to non-programmers?
Some user experience#
From registration to current use, I haven't encountered too many obstacles, and I quite like the visual editing interface. When I first started using hexo, I had to write articles in Markdown, and it was difficult at first. Plus one.
But the webpage crashed once during the writing process, and it told me to check the console. I'm not a programmer, so I didn't look. But fortunately, everything was still there after refreshing the page. If it wasn't there, I would have given up on the spot. Minus one plus one.
It seems that publishing requires gas fees, but I haven't figured out where to get them. The introduction says it's free, but some comments are worried that it might become a paid service in the future. If it becomes a paid service, it means that I have to pay for every random thought I post, which is not as cost-effective as a static blog like hugo. This concern is not unreasonable, so that's why I mentioned earlier that I don't know if exporting is supported. Exporting for backup becomes important in that situation. I just searched and found out that exporting is possible, so it's a plus point. Theoretically, every modification is a new submission to the chain, so it requires gas fees every time. Although the introduction says that the given gas fees are enough for hundreds of submissions per day, I'm still observing for now. I'm someone who likes to post random thoughts, so I might not be able to handle this.