Decentralized Social Media 101: A Creator Flywheel
You can think of this as a sort of “Part 2” to the original post available for free: Decentralized Social Media: 15 Years in the Making.
Own your audience. Keep your keys. Ship your work across Farcaster, Paragraph, and Zora without asking permission.
Get the guide to set up a wallet-first, creator-owned stack that lets you publish, mint, and distribute in one tight loop.
PS: You can get this guide for free if you own 2 Million or more (~$20 USD) of my Creator Tokens on Zora.
Simply buy and hold the tokens, and email me at parallelcitizen[at]pm.me with your confirmation, and you'll get this guide straight to your inbox.
What you will learn
- How to create a dedicated “social identity” wallet and back it up safely
- How Farcaster actually works: custody, signer, and verified addresses, and how to move control to your own wallet
- How to launch a Paragraph publication with wallet login first, then link Farcaster and email, the right way
- How to mint on Zora, understanding Creator Coins and Content Coins, and pair incentives across posts
- How to bridge to Base for low-cost actions and enable micro-tipping with mini-apps like Noice
- How to run the full FPZ flywheel: publish, mint, cast, tip, and measure
- What to do when things break: common errors, quick fixes, and safe troubleshooting
- How to maintain your stack over time with simple security and hygiene routines
What you get
- Step-by-step setup for Farcaster, Paragraph, and Zora with clear UI paths
- One-page Day 1 checklist for quick deployment
- Creator’s master checklist that covers wallet prep, custody changes, linking, minting, and cross-posting
- FAQ and roadblocks for real-world issues like bridging, missing balances, frames not loading, and privacy
- Security best practices written for creators, not just developers
- Plain-English tables for key concepts so you do not get lost in web3 and crypto jargon
Who this is for
Creators, writers, founders, and curious builders who want to control identity, distribution, and monetization without being trapped in a single app.
Honest notes
- This guide is written for today’s reality. Products evolve. Where behavior is likely to change, you will see “as of September 2025” notes so you can verify before acting.
- Expect a learning curve in the first hour. The checklists keep you moving.
- Keep balances small while you learn. Add a hardware wallet once you are comfortable.
Prerequisites
- Laptop, modern browser, phone
- Phantom or another reputable wallet
- A small amount of ETH to bridge to Base (Layer 2) for low-cost transactions
Time to first loop
Designed so most readers can complete the first publish-mint-cast loop in a single sitting.