Only by comparison can the advantages and disadvantages be understood: The fundamental difference between Web3 and Web2

Scenario 1: Your “Luxury Diary” on a Web2 Platform

Imagine you discover a fantastic social app called “Starlight Diary.” It’s free, beautifully designed, and you can record your life, post photos, and interact with friends on it. This is the familiar Web2 world.

Now, let’s see what your experience is like in this “Luxury Diary”:

1. Your Identity: “Starlight Diary” Exclusive Membership Card

How to get it? You register with your phone number and set a nickname, like “Young Dreamer.” This nickname is your identity here.

But the truth is… this identity is “loaned” to you by the “Starlight Diary” platform. Your account, followers, and creative records are tightly bound to this platform. If someday, the platform deems your content non-compliant, they can take away your membership card at any time—that is, ban your account. If you want to leave the platform and go elsewhere, sorry, you cannot take your followers, data, or reputation with you. Your identity only works within this store.

2. Your Content: Writing in “Others’” Notebook

How does it feel? You carefully record every day, feeling these words and pictures are your own efforts.

But the reality is… you’re just writing on the servers provided by “Starlight Diary,” which belong to the platform. They have the right to decide whether your diary can be seen by friends (algorithmic recommendation), and even review or delete your content. Your data becomes a valuable resource for them to analyze user behavior and serve targeted ads. You have “usage rights,” but the true “ownership” and “control” are in the platform’s hands.

3. Your Value: Working as a Creator for the Platform

What happens? Because your content is excellent and attracts many viewers, the “Starlight Diary” app becomes more popular and valuable.

But the truth is… the platform profits massively from the traffic attracted by your content through advertising. And you, as the creator of value, may not get a penny, or only receive a tiny token of appreciation from the platform. All your hard work ends up as a contribution to the platform’s profits.

To sum up the Web2 feeling: it’s like renting a booth in a luxury mall; the mall provides space and foot traffic, but sets all the rules, takes most of the profits, and can kick you out at any time.

Scenario 2: Your Web3 “On-Chain Diary”

Now, let’s switch to a different approach. You no longer use any company’s app but access a decentralized network called “Eternal Contract” through your crypto wallet. This is the world of Web3.

Let’s see what writing a diary here feels like:

1. Your Identity: A “Digital Passport” That Opens the World

How to get it? You don’t need to register. Your identity is your wallet address. This unique address is your universal identity across the entire Web3 universe.

This also means… this identity fully belongs to you. As long as you safeguard your private key (wallet password), no one, no company can take it away or ban you. You can use this “digital passport” to freely log into thousands of Web3 applications—be it games, social platforms, or finance—your identity, assets, and reputation follow you.

2. Your Content: Truly Carved in “Stone”

How does it feel? Every diary you write can be recorded on the blockchain.

This means… your content is permanently and immutably stored, truly becoming your digital asset. No one can delete it. Even cooler, if you wish, you can turn any diary entry into an NFT, and the ownership is firmly in your hands. You can freely display, trade, or pass it on.

3. Your Value: Direct Returns to the Creator

What happens? If your diary becomes popular, readers can directly tip you with cryptocurrency, and the money instantly goes into your wallet—no middleman cut involved.

This also means… in Web3, value no longer needs to be distributed through a platform “middleman.” Creators and consumers establish a direct economic relationship. The more value you create online, the greater your potential reward. You’re no longer working for a platform but creating for yourself.

To summarize the Web3 feeling: you’re no longer renting a booth, but owning a piece of land. You can freely build your house (content) on this land, with the ownership and revenue rights all yours. You and other “landlords” jointly maintain the order of this land.

See, this is the fundamental difference. The core of Web2 is “platform,” while the core of Web3 is “users.”

This doesn’t mean Web3 is perfect; it’s still in early stages, like a toddler learning to walk, far less convenient and user-friendly than Web2. But the shift from “platform-centered” to “user-centered” paradigm is the essence of its appeal, and why every ordinary person should understand it.