blog: mirror.xyz would allow us to also get some donations on publications
chatting: why do u mind moving out of Telegram? I think it’s convenient and secure enough… adding another chat app maybe overkill? Anyways I won’t create anything new using XMTP or Matrix but rather using an existing solution like Signal for example
This is a tricky question, as web3 native I’m a fan of Mirror (I like the ENS integration for example) but I find Paragraph much more flexible and accessible. Most importantly, it’s also a newsletter platform, which Mirror can’t do at all, so it can replace Substack (I think a regular newsletter for gardeners would be a great thing!). Also - it saves articles on Arweave, have comments integrated with Farcaster, and has a lot of other useful features Mirror doesn’t have. Collectibles I think are integrated via highlight.xyz, so collecting money would also be possible.
Actually, I don’t know what the right choice is. If I have to choose one, I’ll probably choose Paragraph, but I think we can have both . Mirror for web3 native people, and Paragraph, with newsletter for everyone else.
Telegram’s main problem is that it is not fully open-source, the servers are proprietary black boxes that no one can see into and no one knows who controls it or who leaks it out. See Mozilla’s “Privacy Not Included” profile for Telegram:
Telegram does have encryption, but it’s not the default, so realistically everything is stored in plaintext on Telegram’s servers anyway. So while it probably has the best app and a great UX, this brings it down a lot.
I think that as a group of people who care about openness, we should also use the most open tools possible.
Signal is definitely much better in terms of privacy and security, but it totally sucks in terms of usability, especially for group chats. For some larger space with multiple channels it’s completely unusable imo.
From my point of view we need a team communication tool rather than messenger, something like Discord in terms of functionality (but Why not Discord?).
So this logic leads me to the Matrix protocol, which I think is the most reasonable compromise, these days, between usability and security and privacy. It’s fully open-source, many different clients are available (accessibility and inclusiveness), and data is not stored centrally but within a federation.
I recommend this guide to learn the basics, there is also a comparison with Discord, Telegram and others:
In conclusion - I’m a bit of a purist, I’d like to use the tools that are best, most decentralised, safest, but I understand that we have to make compromises, especially if we want to reach a wider public - but I think showing some way forward is also important.
So maybe it’s best to go the multi-platform approach. Instead of just being on Telegram, which won’t suit purists like me - or just being on Matrix, which won’t suit non-geeks - we can be on both, and people will choose whichever suits them better. We’ll lose some efficiency by doing that, and the community will become a bit more fragmented, but I feel it’s the right thing to do. Decentralisation is not meant to be easy.
Bluesky account 
. Mirror for web3 native people, and Paragraph, with newsletter for everyone else.