Great note, sir. Followed š¤
Discussion
Likewise :)
Really empathize with your message. I'm also not a fan of echo chambers and would really prefer a respectful debate place for everyone. That would make Nostr much much more useful for everyone.
Thank you very much for reminding everyone with your very important post.
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Iāve found that the majority of discussion I have here is respectful ā even when disagreeing with the other party, it doesnāt tend to downgrade into ad hominems and other nonsense you normally would see online.
Part of it, Iām sure, is that the incentives are different. On Twitter, jerks are rewarded with engagement and reach. Here, they (usually) find themselves politely ignored, while watching the other users who engage in good faith get to enjoy thoughtful/civil discourse and zaps!
As for the echo chamber, Iām starting to think that nostr isnāt actually one. Yes, thereās a lot of discussion of specific topics, but I think thatās more a result of the interests of the particular group of people who showed up early and make up a lot of the user base. But you can find plenty of other unrelated content if you look.
Iād think of an echo chamber as the self-reinforcing ideological loop, often algorithmically-driven or enhanced, that suppressed or crowds out any dissenting voices. Bitcoin Twitter is an example of that, whereas āBitcoin nostrā to me feels much more like a bunch of bitcoiners whoāve found a space to communicate and hang out so the each other, built on tech that is already aligned with many of our philosophical views, but where diverse viewpoints and discussion have as much āposting powerā as the prevailing view, due to the absence of the toxic algos.
Iām still chewing on this and may reformulate it, but hey - thinking āout loudā (ish).
Pleasure conversing with you!
I agree about incentives, the Fediverse was similar when I hoping (2019). X and Facebook deliberately set people against each other for engagement.
I disagree this isnāt an echo chamber of sorts, how many non bitcoiner folks are here, the number must be pretty small judging by the timeline.
Iāll be curious to see what happens if more left leaning voices appear here. It will still fair better than X and Facebook though in my opinion. Itās a matter of record that Facebook very deliberately experimented with peoplesā emotional states showing them only negative content. That was probably the biggest reason I deleted my accounts with them. Career suicide? Maybe but Iām still alive and having fun making niche records!
Hopefully there will be decent conversations about how we function as a society. I never hear Austrian economists discuss social issues, other than āthe market will solve everythingā. But clearly governments are also failing in that regard.
I donāt know the answers, I just know I can turn your mic up and down and make you sound good!
Sounds like weāre fairly aligned in our hopes for what nostr will become
On the echo chamber point, I was more looking at it from the question of āwhat qualifies a space as an echo chamber?ā
Like, is it sufficient that a large group of people are all focused on a particular topic? Do they all need to mostly agree and share a worldview? What happens when someone disagrees, or introduces unrelated content?
When I think of the term āecho chamberā Iām picturing a discussion space where the vibe is somewhere between āself-reinforcingā (at best) and a āgroup-navel-gaze/circle jerkā at worst (pardon the crude metaphor, lol).
But is a hobbyist-club/event an echo chamber, simply because the attendees share a set of views and passions? Or does it need to also have a sort of layer of exclusionary/repressive vibe towards others who disagree?
In that way (again, still formulating), this doesnāt āfeelā like an echo chamber, to me. In part because Iāve followed accounts and hashtags that provide me with a diversity of topics and perspectives in my feed, but also because it doesnāt feel like a place where everyone just pats each other on the back and reinforces flawed perspectives without pushback; in fact thereās a good deal of debate and (mostly respectful) disagreement within the discussions, whether about Bitcoin or otherwise.
Iāve also noticed that non-Bitcoin content is asked for, encouraged, welcomed, boosted, zapped, and generally celebrated. Likely because those of us who were here early, despite being passionate about Bitcoin, also genuinely want to see nostr grow and succeed, and we know that the social layer needs diverse attractions to bring more people in.
Anyway, I guess what Iām getting at is that the ratio of Bitcoin content kind of matches the interest/ratio of the user base. And as more people have joined over the past year or two, bringing different perspectives and wider variety of interests, that ratio has begun to change as well.
I follow hashtags like #nature #artstr #winechain #musicstr #privacy #philosophy #plantstr #foodstr #coffeechain etc., and in doing so have curated an experience here that feels rich and engaging. Oh, and #grownostr was an early focus at expanding the range of topics beyond the initial discussions of āBitcoin and nostrā, and I still use it daily!
I think the reason I called it an echo chamber is because put user base is still prominently about the monetary system. Yes we have other interests and they are encouraged but from the daily user base there is definitely not much else that sparks our attention.
I would love to hear from nostr:npub1qnykqjt67cv2ux84z3anuhpsnmea3f39za52rsyzpcpvjdmgesasvkcxvz as well as she's been the one who really loves the topic.
I would say a echo chamber is the same content everytime. I haven't introduced my better half to nostr yet as āBitcoin is just a bunch of far-right anti-communalists.ā I still don't think she's fully wrong and while you fine people would be my recommendation for a moreā¦ moderate thought, it'd not quite where she will enjoy the full experience.
Your wifeās perspective sounds very similar to my wifeās!
I have the same reasoning for not inviting my better half to Nostr. Maybe in time. This is the best tech
I really have hope for Olas as the client that will work to hook the more creative types. For the time its all very new, and we are still building. I do feel the conversation coming up soon though.
We might have to start #BetterHalfChain
Iām the same boat over here - not even trying to get my wife on Nostr yetā¦
though I did bring my Dad over to give it a try. He posts on 2 platforms every damn day as a 70+ fitness guy - but really struggled here. As Olas gets easier Iāll get him to try it.
Little by little we #grownostr with people that seek other interests , and even if #nostr userbase is still mostly interested in #bitcoin ā¦ the more people we get to post about other stuff, the less it will be an echo chamber šš