Born in the early 1990s, web portals were the earliest form of online media that Chinese web users were exposed to and used. As a comprehensive portal, Sohu is an important representative of Chinese web portals. Sohu offered a wide range of up-to-date content and services. With its categorized search method, inherited from Yahoo, Sohu was satisfying for its users in the early 21 century. However, after the Internet bubble, the rise of social networks, search engines and e-commerce replaced the web portals like Sohu and social media platforms become popular.

As a product of Web 2.0, Weibo(microblogs) is a form of blog. However, the single text content of Weibo is usually limited to a certain range (usually 140 Chinese characters in China mainland). The creation of Weibo allows users to post text, images, video, audio and other forms of information through a variety of channels (including web pages, cell phones, instant messaging, blogs, SNS communities, forums, etc.). As a result, Weibo is characterized by fragmented content, convenient usage, rapid dissemination, and high interactivity.

Weibo’s most important advancement over the Web 1.0 era platforms is that it gives users the right to publish information. Each user can write articles like a journalist, express opinions through features such as likes, or spread information through features such as retweets. The emergence of Web 2.0 products such as Weibo has gradually changed the way people obtain information, interact with each other and live their lives. In certain ways, they could even influence public opinion in many public events and has had a huge impact on Chinese society, for example, the "chained woman". The government was influenced by the public opinion and began to investigate the incident as users continued to express their dissatisfaction on the Internet. Although the government hasn’t given a satisfactory answer to the public until now, it is enough to see the great power of social opinion that can be generated when users become the publishers of information. In other words, in the Web 2.0 era, people are not only the users but also the creators of content.

However, in Weibo, the information posted by users is controlled by the platform. The platform can choose to delete or highlight certain information. Weibo has a very strict "review system". This process allows Weibo administrators to delete tweets that contain sensitive information and warn or cancel the accounts of those who post the content. For example, during the Shanghai city closure in the spring of 2020, Weibo deleted a large number of messages from Shanghai people expressing their discontent and protest. After the closure, large numbers of people who had been infected by COVID-19 gathered around train and subway stations because they were unable to find employment. Weibo users tried to create public pressure to make the government pay attention to this group. However, all of this content was removed to varying degrees by the Weibo management system. At this level, users can create content but are not the owners or controllers of the content.

The business model of Weibo is also different from that of Web 1.0 products. Weibo will distribute a portion of the revenue to users who have made outstanding contributions. However, Weibo as a management has the right to distribute the revenue and how much of it is distributed without the knowledge and approval of the users.

Mirror is a decentralized content publishing platform and one of the most typical or impressive Web3.0 products. In addition to content creation, Mirror is also a crowdfunding tool, an NFT tool, and a blockchain tool. Distinct from Web 2.0 products, Mirror stores content on a chain rather than in a central database.

Users who create content in Mirror can become full owners of the content. Users are the creators, distributors, owners and controllers of this information. Unlike traditional media, Mirror does not have subscriptions, reader information tracking, readership, and other, such features. It also does not have a dedicated promotion function. The platform does not control and manage the information posted by users, nor does it take over the work of distributing the content for them. Therefore, once an article is published, users have to spread it themselves through social media. Admittedly, platforms such as Mirror also have difficulty providing users with traditional safeguards like privacy protection and creators' rights protection because there is no content review. But the goal of Web 3.0 is to become a tool for creators. In other words, creators, as full owners of content, need to be responsible for that content, including legal responsibility.

Developers also enjoy absolute freedom of information. When developers want to start a project with Mirror's platform, they don't need to be authorized to do so because the data is completely open. Mirror has some relatively simple APIs, but most of them exist on Arweave, which is accessible to anyone.

Mirror offers multiple forms of revenue for both users and developers. Users can choose from USDT stablecoin, bounties for completing bounty tasks, tip-like incentives through Coordinape assessments, and more. All revenue methods are distributed through a previous agreement between the user and the platform or the user and the user. In other words, the platform does not define all benefit distribution methods and distribution amounts. Users are free to trade in the platform.

Born in the early 1990s, web portals were the earliest form of online media that Chinese web users were exposed to and used. As a comprehensive portal, Sohu is an important representative of Chinese web portals. Sohu offered a wide range of up-to-date content and services. With its categorized search method, inherited from Yahoo, Sohu was satisfying for its users in the early 21 century. However, after the Internet bubble, the rise of social networks, search engines and e-commerce replaced the web portals like Sohu and social media platforms become popular.

As a product of Web 2.0, Weibo(microblogs) is a form of blog. However, the single text content of Weibo is usually limited to a certain range (usually 140 Chinese characters in China mainland). The creation of Weibo allows users to post text, images, video, audio and other forms of information through a variety of channels (including web pages, cell phones, instant messaging, blogs, SNS communities, forums, etc.). As a result, Weibo is characterized by fragmented content, convenient usage, rapid dissemination, and high interactivity.

Weibo’s most important advancement over the Web 1.0 era platforms is that it gives users the right to publish information. Each user can write articles like a journalist, express opinions through features such as likes, or spread information through features such as retweets. The emergence of Web 2.0 products such as Weibo has gradually changed the way people obtain information, interact with each other and live their lives. In certain ways, they could even influence public opinion in many public events and has had a huge impact on Chinese society, for example, the "chained woman". The government was influenced by the public opinion and began to investigate the incident as users continued to express their dissatisfaction on the Internet. Although the government hasn’t given a satisfactory answer to the public until now, it is enough to see the great power of social opinion that can be generated when users become the publishers of information. In other words, in the Web 2.0 era, people are not only the users but also the creators of content.

However, in Weibo, the information posted by users is controlled by the platform. The platform can choose to delete or highlight certain information. Weibo has a very strict "review system". This process allows Weibo administrators to delete tweets that contain sensitive information and warn or cancel the accounts of those who post the content. For example, during the Shanghai city closure in the spring of 2020, Weibo deleted a large number of messages from Shanghai people expressing their discontent and protest. After the closure, large numbers of people who had been infected by COVID-19 gathered around train and subway stations because they were unable to find employment. Weibo users tried to create public pressure to make the government pay attention to this group. However, all of this content was removed to varying degrees by the Weibo management system. At this level, users can create content but are not the owners or controllers of the content.

The business model of Weibo is also different from that of Web 1.0 products. Weibo will distribute a portion of the revenue to users who have made outstanding contributions. However, Weibo as a management has the right to distribute the revenue and how much of it is distributed without the knowledge and approval of the users.

Mirror is a decentralized content publishing platform and one of the most typical or impressive Web3.0 products. In addition to content creation, Mirror is also a crowdfunding tool, an NFT tool, and a blockchain tool. Distinct from Web 2.0 products, Mirror stores content on a chain rather than in a central database.

Users who create content in Mirror can become full owners of the content. Users are the creators, distributors, owners and controllers of this information. Unlike traditional media, Mirror does not have subscriptions, reader information tracking, readership, and other, such features. It also does not have a dedicated promotion function. The platform does not control and manage the information posted by users, nor does it take over the work of distributing the content for them. Therefore, once an article is published, users have to spread it themselves through social media. Admittedly, platforms such as Mirror also have difficulty providing users with traditional safeguards like privacy protection and creators' rights protection because there is no content review. But the goal of Web 3.0 is to become a tool for creators. In other words, creators, as full owners of content, need to be responsible for that content, including legal responsibility.

Developers also enjoy absolute freedom of information. When developers want to start a project with Mirror's platform, they don't need to be authorized to do so because the data is completely open. Mirror has some relatively simple APIs, but most of them exist on Arweave, which is accessible to anyone.

Mirror offers multiple forms of revenue for both users and developers. Users can choose from USDT stablecoin, bounties for completing bounty tasks, tip-like incentives through Coordinape assessments, and more. All revenue methods are distributed through a previous agreement between the user and the platform or the user and the user. In other words, the platform does not define all benefit distribution methods and distribution amounts. Users are free to trade in the platform.