Web3 social applications use wallets, decentralized identifiers, blockchain records, or portable social graphs for selected account and content functions. Decentralization is not binary: profiles may be onchain while media, search, moderation, and the main interface remain controlled by separate providers. The practical question is which parts can move between applications and which depend on one service.
What “decentralized social” should clarify
- • Identity: Who controls the account, name, keys, and recovery?
- • Portability: Can the profile, graph, and content work in another app?
- • Privacy: Which content and metadata are public, encrypted, or removable?
Map identity, content, and social graph
Check how accounts are created and recovered, who controls the username, where posts and media are stored, and whether followers or subscriptions can be used elsewhere. Wallet-only recovery can be unforgiving, while hosted accounts may add password recovery and platform dependence. Public blockchain actions can be permanent even if an interface hides them.
Review moderation and privacy
Open protocols still rely on clients, relays, indexes, filters, community rules, and legal obligations. Compare blocking, reporting, spam controls, content warnings, appeals, encryption claims, metadata exposure, and data deletion. A message described as encrypted may still reveal participants, timing, or other metadata.
Understand fees and monetization
Posting, collecting, tipping, subscribing, or minting may require network fees or token approvals. Verify every signature and know whether creator revenue depends on a platform, contract, or transferable asset. Compare audience, usability, interoperability, exports, developer ecosystem, mobile access, and total cost alongside decentralization claims.
Continue your research
For related checks, review Web3 identity tools and crypto wallets.