I'm really to a fan of zaps" being used as catnip to lure people into nostr. It's such a disservice to the protocol. Nostr is not special because of zaps.
It might be a cool gimmick at first, but people got bored of sending the same cents back and forth.
*not a fan (for non #amethyst users)
I not a do care about the zaps a zapathons are a stetupid shit thank you and a not zap me bye
Theres something about zaps that feels fiat at times, particularly Damus' anti-reaction mode (zaps only is intentionally misleading) and value for value guiltripping/shaming. Its not perfect but like many aspects of nostr, zaps have flexibility in their use, for better or worse.
The downstream consequence of this is that newcomers are convinced they need to be able to send and receive zaps to "fully experience nostr". This is such a bullshit disingenuous myth
Technically you are right. But Nostr (the notes side) needs to compete with the empires of social media.
You need something unique to even have a chance. Zaps is one of those unique features.
Yes the protocol has so much to offer. But when onboarding new people you need to show them a at least one feature they don’t have on other platforms.
I like a unique a feature freedom I nonexist on other a platform zaps you can a keep thank you
Why? Every new social media platform was practically always a copycat of the last ever since myspace.
Most people move just out of pure novelty, curiosity and to keep it fresh.
They all converged to become copycats. All of them started in some unique way.
Instagram was a photo only + iOS only.
Twitter was the tweet length limit.
Reddit had downvotes.
Snapchat had disappearing chat and stories.
TikTok had the scrolling feed.
Etc etc.
Very few switch just to switch, something really compelling needs to be on the other side to attract people.
Censorship resistance and cryptographic signature verifications are nostr's unique features, as defined in NIP01. Everything else is just fluff.
I can see what you're saying, but I also think it could be really important for a circular economy that can be used to fend off AI bots and fake interactions..
Join nostr, eventually get a zap, use it to join a paid relay, nostr image host or other nostr service that adds value to your experience.. vs. join nostr, watch some ads, solve some captchas, use some emails and credit cards and state issued IDs and interact with 80% bots that seem like humans.
The things you mentioned above, are not zaps but ordinary payments to service providers which can in theory be made in any currency.
I understand zap as the social signaling aspect of a micro tip in lieu of a synthetic reaction.
Payments will always be needed for any sustainable ecosystem. Zaps on the other hand...
