After trying out the recommendation of "心灵魔法站" on Telegram, I learned about xLog and found it quite interesting. As a tech novice, I've been catching up on a lot of blockchain knowledge (thanks to GPT). Then I discovered that the concept of xLog is similar to Matters, which I had previously encountered. I wanted to summarize the differences between these two platforms.
Both platforms seem to be decentralized, but Matters feels more focused on writing and creation. Initially, I was frustrated with censorship within China and wanted to access different news and information, which is how I learned about Matters (and also discovered IPFS for the first time). On the other hand, xLog seems to be more focused on technology, and it appears to use a separate blockchain (which I still don't fully understand). When following a blog on xLog, a wallet signature is required, which gives it a more "decentralized" feel! It's pretty cool.
Following the link to crossbell associated with xLog, I discovered many interesting things, such as the ability to synchronize timelines from Twitter and Telegram channels! This is really awesome, but I deactivated my Twitter account a long time ago and now use Mastodon more often. I hope they can add the functionality to sync Mastodon toots in the future!
Finally, I compared the ways Matters and xLog store articles on IPFS. It seems that Matters stores them as offline web files, which can be downloaded and opened in a browser for reading. On the other hand, xLog uses a JSON file, which appears as a bunch of code when opened in a plain text editor (I have no idea how to read it). Perhaps it requires a reader to automatically format it in order to display it in a readable state? (It seems to be related to RSS subscriptions as well).
So far, these are my findings about the two platforms. In the future, I would like to understand the incentive and reward mechanisms, as well as how to turn favorite articles into NFTs. Matters uses LikeCoin, but I've had a poor experience, possibly due to network issues.
Lastly, I want to praise myself. I am someone who is curious and willing to explore, and these qualities help broaden my horizons and improve my perception. However, I lack perseverance, so it's challenging for me to stay consistent. I hope I can persist and record some insights here more often. (｡･ω･｡)