Thread

Nostr is still very broken and lots of the various parts didn't live up to its potential... yet. But that doesn't mean that it has failed. It means that there's still work to be done, nothing more. Can it be frustrating at times? Sure. Could things be better? Undoubtedly. Is it a shame that many promising projects are only half finished and/or abandoned? Of course. Nostrโ€™s promise, in part, is that it truly is for the people, by the people. And people are messy. And what nostr is trying to model is messy too. But it's beautiful, and alive, and promising, and WAY better than it used to be. Warts and all. I love this place more and more each day, and I have no intention of leaving. And with the stuff that's on the horizon this little corner of the (new and improved) internet is bound to get better still. It's amazing that it exists and that stuff mostly works, imperfect as it may be. Makes me grateful. Thank you all ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿงก

Replies (51)

Of the many aspects that are at play here, on of them is that developments are scattered. So many different apps, developments in relays, new event kinds/use cases. Its hard to keep track of as someone dedicated to the effort, let alone the rest of the user base. No single organization, with a roadmap, clear communciation channels etc. Point being, things are improving but they are probably off your radar for a while if you don't actively seek then out when they don't directly occur in the place you happen to already be at.
I dipped my toes into nostr 2 years ago and jumped back out almost immediately. I simply couldn't handle the state of the UX at that time. When I dipped back in about 6 months ago, it was a totally different experience for me. Sure, there were some rough edges but the UX was so improved and I was totally impressed by the progress. Now I feel like I've found my home and my tribe. The people and projects here are incredible, and I plan on doing everything I can to continue to connect with and support this community. Thank you for having me.
Love the optimism about Nostr's future! ๐Ÿงก You're spot on about those "half finished and/or abandoned" projects. But I think the biggest factor isn't just human messinessโ€”it's the lack of sustainable business models for devs and creators. Most devs can't work for free indefinitely. Without clear paths to monetization (zaps, subscriptions, grants, etc.), even passionate builders eventually need projects that pay the bills. Economic reality, not character flaws. The "for the people, by the people" ethos is beautiful, but if we want Nostr to truly thrive long-term, we need to solve the sustainability puzzle: How do talented developers building the tools we love actually make a living doing it? It can't all be reliant on the largess of @jack or @jack mallers Some are experimenting with zaps and premium features, which is encouraging. But until we crack this systematically, we'll keep seeing promising starts โ†’ gradual abandonment. The technical foundation is solid and improving. Now we need the economic foundation to match it. #nostr #sustainability #development #grownostr
โ†ฉ replying to Ian
Yes, well put. I'd love to see a deep financial analysis of the Nostr ecosystem, all the grant funds going in, and the investments, the estimated combined earnings of developers, revenue estimates for the major players in each area like Alby, Primal, Nostr.wine and, so on. It's hard to picture just where Nostr is financially right now and how big the gaps are that need to be filled. (Big of course, but just how big?) On the grant and investment finding side I'd not be surprised if upwards of $2m was flowing in each month, but that's just finger in the air.
It is cool, I like it. I think it has potential. Normal people will not use until it is simpler. What I do like: -Peer to peer collaboration -Users providing goods & services -Value for value Some good content if you can filter through the dick yanking & virtue token mining. Maybe Knotsies can work on some filtering for everyone.
โ†ฉ replying to GuyFawkes
RIP Farcasterโ˜บ๏ธ, is a good thing ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜… They are loosing users who believe in decentralized technology, let nature do its work ๐Ÿ˜ค, karma โœ…๏ธ ------ In the past I made an attempt, but in the process I canceled my attempt ๐Ÿ˜ณ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜ณ I never used their service, too quick visibility gave me a suspicion of centralization ๐Ÿค” What they want to do (promising), was something great, but unfortunately it's not decentralized ๐Ÿ˜ฒ ๐Ÿ˜ฎโ€๐Ÿ’จ
I always say: embrace the chaos. And honestly, what a time to be alive stumbling upon something so special and unique, with no clue where it will lead. Thatโ€™s the beauty of it. Nostr isnโ€™t just about code itโ€™s about working hand in hand with developers, testing, giving feedback, and shaping the experience together. This week, for example, I went back and forth with @Francis Mars on PubPay tweaking things to make it more user-friendly and creating an easy, fun way for people to get onboarded. Couldnโ€™t ask for more. ๐Ÿ’œ
โ†ฉ replying to Tanja
If you're seeing this, you might be asking yourself, what the hell is @PUBPAY.me? Well, like most things in NOSTR, we're still trying to figure it out ourselves. Right, @Pedro ๐Ÿงจ ? ๐Ÿ˜‚ PubPay is an attempt of making zaps act more like public payments, with payment requests and one tap socially provable payments. A sort of Venmo meets Splitwise, if you will, but on NOSTR! It can be used for purchases, splitting payments, requesting donations, and many other uses cases we're still to find out. @Tanja has been helping by testing and providing valuable feedback with PubPay LIVE. Simply put, LIVE is an interface that tracks zaps and displays them by amount in a leaderboard. Optimized to be displayed on big screens, LIVE is often used by artists and other creators to track tips while incentivizing the audience to be part of the show. A perfect example of how NOSTR enables positive feedback loop incentives, knows as Value-for-Value. If you're interested to find out more, read this short article I wrote about it, or try it out at pubpay.me/live ๐Ÿซ‚ All feedback is welcomed! View Article โ†’
When KYC & censorship are spreading to every platform, when people get arrested for a retweet, #Nostr is just as important as #Bitcoin. If not more. Free Speech is VITAL. IMHO, Bitcoin and Freedom "maximalists" who stick to Elon's golden cage (and trash Nostr every chance they get) are a fascinating case of cognitive dissonance. @Gigi nailed it. I don't care how imperfect Nostr is *today*. It's already great, improving fast, and there's is no alternative anyway. GM! โœŠ View quoted note โ†’
Being open source, I'm sure it's going to go the way Linux did. For years I was frustrated by the lack of adoption and support. Then suddenly the web exploded and it became the base layer software for web Linux - Base layer software for web Bitcoin - Base layer money (increasing) nostr - Base layer comms (increasing) If it indeed goes the same way as Linux. The saturation will be at most 75 to 80%