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nostr is still mainly used alongside twitter. in the best rare case, as a replacement. and only because people are running away from something about twitter they don't like. there is nothing that people want to run to nostr for yet. zaps were promising, but bitcoin is still a hurdle (one that primal is doing the best at overcoming), and it's doubtful lightning could scale to a massive adoption moment. nostr needs a feature or experience that's unique and sets it apart. i *think* that is the ecosystem of microapps over the long term...but it's definitely not in the short term. and that might be ok. for twitter the initial draw was the simplicity and weirdness of 140 characters (we started with zero network effect, facebook had it all...that's built over time). later it became the conversation which lead to the "public square" (owned by a private corporation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). and then as it grew, it had a single point of control/failure people could attack. nostr doesn't have to worry about that last bit. it's an incredible feature. but not one the average person cares about (no matter how much they yell "FREE SPEECH!"...if people actually cared about free speech, bitcoin and nostr would be all they used...they don't). all this to say, we're not doomed. but what we think is the killer feature isn't right now. who's going to discover the one that is?

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jack's avatar jack
nostr is still mainly used alongside twitter. in the best rare case, as a replacement. and only because people are running away from something about twitter they don't like. there is nothing that people want to run to nostr for yet. zaps were promising, but bitcoin is still a hurdle (one that primal is doing the best at overcoming), and it's doubtful lightning could scale to a massive adoption moment. nostr needs a feature or experience that's unique and sets it apart. i *think* that is the ecosystem of microapps over the long term...but it's definitely not in the short term. and that might be ok. for twitter the initial draw was the simplicity and weirdness of 140 characters (we started with zero network effect, facebook had it all...that's built over time). later it became the conversation which lead to the "public square" (owned by a private corporation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). and then as it grew, it had a single point of control/failure people could attack. nostr doesn't have to worry about that last bit. it's an incredible feature. but not one the average person cares about (no matter how much they yell "FREE SPEECH!"...if people actually cared about free speech, bitcoin and nostr would be all they used...they don't). all this to say, we're not doomed. but what we think is the killer feature isn't right now. who's going to discover the one that is?
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Bitcoin is Nostr’s heartbeat. Nostr is unstoppable because it lives on top of bitcoin. Lightning will work, just not raw, with each user having a node. It will require fedimint. Having your identity tied to your wallet and being able to move values around, to relay or just zaps is the killer feature.
↩ replying to npub1jknf...tcvj
Finally catching up on this thread. @walker takes the W here. In general tho, I’d caution the community saying people don’t care. When I came here, I didn’t know why to care/what there was to care about. The community here taught me why to care about open source/bitcoin. It’s too presumptuous to say people don’t care, they *largely* don’t know. Those who do but choose closed paths, def shame on them.
Zaps. Did anyone in this discussion mentioned Jaron Lanier? He is talking about micropayments since 2010 and has a very good point too. Once Nostr becomes somewhat known and likes of ticktockers will realize that they can post there and earn peanuts of share of value or they van post on Nostr and flock their following here too so they van have the micropayments without the middleman.
The problem is intellectual laziness. Over the years, most social media apps were designed to keep users doing intellectually "easy" tasks. Eventually, they develop short attention span. That is why most people find Bitcoin and Nostr difficult to understand and use. If an app is good like Nostr, even though not "easy", they won't use it because their brains have been programmed to do "easy" tasks
For me, knowing that I cannot be cancelled is the key Deep down I know that any attention I give the status quo platforms is a waste & therefore as risky as it might seem to leave behind an “audience”, long-term Nostr is the right call It’s a good test in delayed gratification & low time preference thinking
You’re such an eloquent writer and orator. I find this note to be sincere & beautifully written. I agree with everything expressed here.❤️ Lyn Alden hit the nail on the head. Nostr needs time. And patience. 🕰️💜 Freedom is subjective to me so I tend to back away from that kind of ideology. What is free for one can be a form of subjection to another. The concept of “freedom”and what it is to be “truly free” especially within the framework of social media is a bit a fallacy for me. Also, the concept of centralization is mostly demonized here and for good reason but I am not entirely against it. In many instances, it’s just common sense. And then, there is a steep learning curve to navigating nostr that we can’t overlook. I love Twitter so much. I think it’s perfect sans the forced and extremely bizarre algorithms and super creepy moderation. I visualize Nostr as its own ecosystem, more or less, this massive cluster of cute shiny little goldfish consisting of clients and micro apps or what have you in unison - coexisting with or even taking down the big fish. Keep building and creating and have fun - the journey is the destination until it isn’t. Nostr will continue to grow and evolve into what it’s meant to be. 🐠🌎☀️🌬️🌹🍃✨💋🦁❤️‍🔥 image
One straightforward move here is to take what’s working on Farcaster and reimplement it for the Bitcoin/nostr community. Could start with cast actions and frames. They are an open spec and transfer really well to nostr, and empower a ton of non-fulltime devs to innovate towards truly unique experiences here Yes it’s still copying but it’s copying a useful primitive that enables innovation at a higher level
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Nothing that people wanna run to nostr for yet…. I call Bull shit I am people And I wanted to run to nostr right after first hearing about it a year ago I quit Twitter cold turkey and fb and all of them instantly just said fuck em The same way I said fuck dollars as soon as I discovered sats So I call BS on that statement jack
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↩ replying to Greeny
Sorry Jack this post triggered me I was all like DOOMER 😅🤣 But I kinda get it Your saying keep building Let’s figure it out Kinda like how Jeff booth says “ as long as it stays decentralized and secure” Like yea it is and it will, but that doesn’t mean we need to sit idly by Let’s be proactive and productive Working on increasing privacy Running nodes Mining Strengthen the network Help Do something!
A means for the user to directly influence and control their own algorithm would be a game changing feature. Perhaps this could be implemented within clients and verified at some level (to ensure no manipulation by third parties). Given current platforms have an overarching business interest in maximising their revenue, it's difficult to see them offering users algorithmic control over content curation. As we've seen over the last few years, centralised platforms are easily pressured into censoring content. User controlled algorithms (with verification features) would be directly at odds with their current models.
The ability to find people and organizations and tags is severely wanting on nostr. The use of long numerical public keys as identifiers is also a hindrance for user interface. In many instances, they cannot be easily copied and pasted from other apps or communicated to others. Why can’t I use nostr to easily discover local marketplaces or sellers or like minded groups? We need discovery tools.
Surely it want be that killer app feature, but in my opinion, I think it would be nice to add a feature that you can filter and sort global content by the amount of sats which were given as a value 4 value. So good content could spread even better. Imagine one day nostr could be used for a political surveys. #grownostr #plebchain #Nostr #asknostr
jack's avatar jack
nostr is still mainly used alongside twitter. in the best rare case, as a replacement. and only because people are running away from something about twitter they don't like. there is nothing that people want to run to nostr for yet. zaps were promising, but bitcoin is still a hurdle (one that primal is doing the best at overcoming), and it's doubtful lightning could scale to a massive adoption moment. nostr needs a feature or experience that's unique and sets it apart. i *think* that is the ecosystem of microapps over the long term...but it's definitely not in the short term. and that might be ok. for twitter the initial draw was the simplicity and weirdness of 140 characters (we started with zero network effect, facebook had it all...that's built over time). later it became the conversation which lead to the "public square" (owned by a private corporation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). and then as it grew, it had a single point of control/failure people could attack. nostr doesn't have to worry about that last bit. it's an incredible feature. but not one the average person cares about (no matter how much they yell "FREE SPEECH!"...if people actually cared about free speech, bitcoin and nostr would be all they used...they don't). all this to say, we're not doomed. but what we think is the killer feature isn't right now. who's going to discover the one that is?
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The marketplace is the feature. All other marketplaces don't have the ability to combine payment and reviews in a peer to peer way. Amazon reviews are full of dog shit and you have to jump through hoops to get access all to get your product stolen by Amazon. If we can have a marketplace where is can sell farm goods directly to npub, the shipping info sent (gift wrap dms?) so that delivery confirmation is part of the review and then allow folks to review reviewers so the web of trust for a person's reviews has more information.
I come to #nostr for the note signature verifications, not to run away from twitter. The proof is: I still use Twitter. Anyone else just here for the cryptographic assurances?
jack's avatar jack
nostr is still mainly used alongside twitter. in the best rare case, as a replacement. and only because people are running away from something about twitter they don't like. there is nothing that people want to run to nostr for yet. zaps were promising, but bitcoin is still a hurdle (one that primal is doing the best at overcoming), and it's doubtful lightning could scale to a massive adoption moment. nostr needs a feature or experience that's unique and sets it apart. i *think* that is the ecosystem of microapps over the long term...but it's definitely not in the short term. and that might be ok. for twitter the initial draw was the simplicity and weirdness of 140 characters (we started with zero network effect, facebook had it all...that's built over time). later it became the conversation which lead to the "public square" (owned by a private corporation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). and then as it grew, it had a single point of control/failure people could attack. nostr doesn't have to worry about that last bit. it's an incredible feature. but not one the average person cares about (no matter how much they yell "FREE SPEECH!"...if people actually cared about free speech, bitcoin and nostr would be all they used...they don't). all this to say, we're not doomed. but what we think is the killer feature isn't right now. who's going to discover the one that is?
View quoted note →
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Social will probably be the least important or successful part of Nostr. I think the Other Stuff will be the most important. Enterprise software solutions on Nostr will also be a big part. Nostr will win by 1000s of micro cuts.
well when twitter decides to change things overnight it makes me want to build here. i know that the longer i build my brand on twitter the harder it is to transition to nostr this could be a feature, because nostr is ultimately future proof. facebook and … are only there as zombie companies. and the replacement is already here. let’s fucking goooooo
I will call out "BS" everytime I hear this "You came to Nostr to run away from other platforms" crap. I almost didn't check Nostr out because the descriptions of clients (other than one for chess) were described as Twitter clones. 🤮 Twitter has always sucked. Facebook has always sucked, but it has usefulness. I used FB to promote my business and find local events/parties, and I didn't want to. I never "wanted" to use it. I wanted (and still want) to use Nostr, even though I can't use it as a replacement for the functionality that FB offered. I came to Nostr because I realized what it offers that others do not. It was a desire to see what the protocol, and various clients, had to offer that benefitted me. It has nothing to do with a compromise, or a second-tier option to the piles of feces that Big Tech has focused on. Yes, we can make Nostr more attractive to the masses, but pretending that we're here because we're refugees is moronic, especially considering how many people chose Nostr because they understand it.
jack's avatar jack
nostr is still mainly used alongside twitter. in the best rare case, as a replacement. and only because people are running away from something about twitter they don't like. there is nothing that people want to run to nostr for yet. zaps were promising, but bitcoin is still a hurdle (one that primal is doing the best at overcoming), and it's doubtful lightning could scale to a massive adoption moment. nostr needs a feature or experience that's unique and sets it apart. i *think* that is the ecosystem of microapps over the long term...but it's definitely not in the short term. and that might be ok. for twitter the initial draw was the simplicity and weirdness of 140 characters (we started with zero network effect, facebook had it all...that's built over time). later it became the conversation which lead to the "public square" (owned by a private corporation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). and then as it grew, it had a single point of control/failure people could attack. nostr doesn't have to worry about that last bit. it's an incredible feature. but not one the average person cares about (no matter how much they yell "FREE SPEECH!"...if people actually cared about free speech, bitcoin and nostr would be all they used...they don't). all this to say, we're not doomed. but what we think is the killer feature isn't right now. who's going to discover the one that is?
View quoted note →
It‘s like Saylor said about Bitcoin: probably there‘s no need (yet) for the majority of the population. If censorship and threats against current free-speech platforms continue, like now with Telegram, and maybe later with Twitter/X, I‘m sure people will see the need and benefit of Nostr and will start engaging with it!