Bitcoin is friction, Bitcoin only is more friction. The beauty of nostr is that it isn't token dependent, yet so much seems to be Bitcoin only. As much as I love Bitcoin, I think to grow nostr needs to make Bitcoin an option rather than the only choice. This would show case nostr as the open protocol. At the moment it's understandable why people think it is just a web3 token dependent platform.
Why Nostr is struggling…
There is too much of an overlap with X, not only in the feature sets among the primary applications, but more importantly, in the kind of audience that Nostr is catering to.
Sure..censorship resistance at the protocol level is a differentiator, but the to the average person, you may as well be talking gibberish. They don’t know wtf a protocol is in the first place - let alone why it matters for censorship resistance to happen at that level, or more importantly, WHY they should trust Nostr to deliver on that promise. “Bcoz nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m said so” is not an argument.
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Bluesky is a case in point here.
It’s got a VERY similar feature set to X, claims to be open source / censorship resistant (similar narrative to Nostr), and is growing MUCH faster than Nostr, bc it has captured a key audience, ie; people with TDS and EDS (Elon Derangement Syndrome).
I’ve been on there a few times, and the content quality is enough to make you want to throw up….but at the very least, it’s working for that kind of content, and for the people who want it.
I don’t have a direct answer here..but I think it’s something to do with the over-emphasis on technicals.
nostr:npub1az9xj85cmxv8e9j9y80lvqp97crsqdu2fpu3srwthd99qfu9qsgstam8y8 mentioned increasing the emphasis on design the other day. I agree this is a move in the right direction. We’re taking a very design-focused approach with nostr:npub15xd2mmjnh3caykh77djsv73e0zkrp42jp5mwerx8f4m6su40wdvss7t3l3 (we’ll have ALOT more to show in the next 6wks).
That being said, it’s not enough.
IMO, Nostr is technically mature enough for us to go out there and talk about it to more people, and build a narrative BEYOND the 500 of us that are talking to each other on here.
People like nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft or nostr:npub1dergggklka99wwrs92yz8wdjs952h2ux2ha2ed598ngwu9w7a6fsh9xzpc can correct me if I am wrong here. Maybe there’s alot more to do technically.
But if I am right, I’d like to see more initiatives that are marketing oriented being supported by nostr:npub17xvf49kht23cddxgw92rvfktkd3vqvjgkgsdexh9847wl0927tqsrhc9as and nostr:npub10pensatlcfwktnvjjw2dtem38n6rvw8g6fv73h84cuacxn4c28eqyfn34f and other coalitions. Maybe we even need a council of Nostr businesses, who together pool some funds to help drive some marketing initiatives?
Whatever the case, we need to expand upon the Nostr narrative, make it more compelling and speak to more people about it.
At the very least, we have to conquer then Bitcoiners. If we can’t get the segment who are into freedom money onto the freedom of speech network, we’re DOA. That’s a first step.
I know nostr:npub1hz5alqscpp8yjrvgsdp2n4ygkl8slvstrgvmjca7e45w6644ew7sewtysa is working on a very cool initiative in relation to this. The Nostr Booth is IMO a great way to make Nostr more “real” for bitcoiners by having a physical presence at all the conferences.
I know nostr:npub1utx00neqgqln72j22kej3ux7803c2k986henvvha4thuwfkper4s7r50e8 + nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6 are doing some Podcast outreach. That’s super important too. nostr:npub16vrkgd28wq6n0h77lqgu8h4fdu0eapxgyj0zqq6ngfvjf2vs3nuq5mp2va and crew are putting on Nostriga. Amazing. nostr:npub16c0nh3dnadzqpm76uctf5hqhe2lny344zsmpm6feee9p5rdxaa9q586nvr / nostr:npub12vkcxr0luzwp8e673v29eqjhrr7p9vqq8asav85swaepclllj09sylpugg are doing great things with nostr:npub1spdnfacgsd7lk0nlqkq443tkq4jx9z6c6ksvaquuewmw7d3qltpslcq6j7, etc on the content side. I’ve got some things up my sleeve personally which I will begin to do once nostr:npub15xd2mmjnh3caykh77djsv73e0zkrp42jp5mwerx8f4m6su40wdvss7t3l3 is in a position to represent a NEW kind of Nostr-product..
But we need MOAR..
And…we also need to find another angle that is NOT about censorship resistance. That’s clearly not working against X.
I don’t know the EXACT narrative or spin, but it has to be more “running towards” than “running from”.
More white pill, less black pill.
Anyway.
I will probably turn this into an article. I’ve been thinking more and more about “writing in public” as we build Satlantis, and sharing more about how we’re thinking about growing a “network product” on top of a “network protocol”.
If you think this was valuable, please repoast so more people can see and get involved in the discussion.
Discussion
I think that would be taking a few steps back. Honestly, I think adoption is a very slow burn. People will use it but it'll have to spread by word of mouth. Perhaps a company down the line will use nostr and it'll be huge. That happened with Linux gaming, Valve, and the Steam Deck. So it's possible it happens again.
Yeah, but for people who don't get Bitcoin, there isn't really any way of paying for relays. Most people associate Bitcoin with scammers and are going to stop listening as soon as it is mentioned unfortunately. These people may be interested in freedom of speech or the ability to own your own identity and following, but dismiss nostr because using it required them to also be interested in Bitcoin.
The same is true for people into crypto. Nostr is a killer for most niche shitcoins because it can do what most token projects try and achieve using Bitcoin, which has better stability and network effect. Bitcoin would naturally come to be used if we allowed a free market. But by insisting on Bitcoin only, we are doing the same thing that shitcoins do, but with Bitcoin. But making clients that can use multiple crypto currencies we would undermine them by exposing to Bitcoins network effect.
The former group is more important but the second is a good thing to do on principle to demonstrate that nostr doesn't care what monetary unit it uses.
This is a very good point; albeit up until saying "making clients that can use multiple crypto currencies." I don't think we should be encouraging other crypto currencies.
I think your line of thinking is right but the conclusion that we should encourage or support scams for adoption is wrong. Of course, nothing's stopping anyone from making a client that does support such crypto coins.
Did we forget ordinals and Bitcoin magazine's scam shill articles? I understand mentioning this isn't exactly directly related to your point but I bring it up because I think I'm seeing a pattern here. I think it's a slippery slope that's down the same avenue of thinking that made those kinds of articles happen at Bitcoin magazine.
Is nostr a Bitcoin thing? Honestly, yes. But could it exist without money being attached in any way? Absolutely. But I think that hardly matters given our reality.
I think it's just the nature of the beast and the unfortunate reality that people will immediately turn away if bitcoin is mentioned. In time they will learn either the hard way or the easy way. That's okay and people will find utility in nostr as much as they will in Bitcoin. Patience, we don't need to play games to try and "get people on nostr." Though I think such a thing is fun to ruminate on and speculate.
Yeah, I see your point about not wanting to promote scams. At the end of the day the user has the responsibility to decide what they determine to be a scam. It's not the responsibility of the devs. Giving choice is not necessary promoting scams. I'm thinking of something like linking an open source wallet like Cake Wallet.
I disagree that nostr is a Bitcoin thing. Bitcoiners built it, but it's bigger than Bitcoin. If it is limited to Bitcoin we limit its network effect and compromise it's ability to be adopted. It will become a niche network that withers as a similar, more open protocol gets adopted more widely
I disagree on some things here but fair enough. Onward friend! 🎉
Aw man, I just realized I misread your note. My bad! 😔