The protocol element is precisely what sets nostr apart from old social media. It is a concept that must be communicated, elsewise noobs all think nostr is just a bad twitter clone and nothing more.
I do agree on focusing on experiences tho, I don't see these two concepts at odds. A good introduction would begin with something like: "Look at all these new apps! You only need one login to instantly use it all with Nostr, and your content in nostr is shared across them all, automatically!"
In my experience, it is somewhat confusing for non-technically minded people to grasp the protocol side of things. I guess this aspect needs to be explained in a way that is easy to understand.
The way to sell the protocol to people would be to build some amazing apps on it, because I don't think the average person would care as much about the protocol itself, as long as they get the basics. Just like most people probably don't understand how the smtp protocol works, even through they use email every day.
"Your keys, your content - works with any platform running on nostr." sort of thing.
