Hot take: #Nostr lacks a way to communicate being seen.

I am only a few months into my nostr journey. I use the @primal client. So far there are only two ways to let someone know that I have read their note, a like or a zap. For me personally, there are many notes where zapping or liking is the wrong response. What I would like is a way to express to the author of a note that I gave my time to them, that I read their note. That’s it. That is the compliment I want to pay.

Often I need to go away and think about what was said. This can involve either trying to steelman the person’s perspective or do more research. This is the sentiment that I would like to communicate, that the author was seen and heard, that I gave time to them.

For me, neither a zap or a like works to communicate this sentiment.

nostr:nevent1qqszeh706zrcm3kzrraqllvek8cvxp4r5gklna7eyhrv45fj58n39nspzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgnt9c8x

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Discussion

I don't know how it is on primal, but on Amethyst, the "like" button is more of a react button since you can use more emotes than just a heart.

In the sentiment of your note, I gave you šŸ‘€ instead of ā¤ļø

Thank you. I have not tried Amethyst. I gave the Like button in Primal a long press to see if it had options, it doesn’t.

I suppose one way I could acknowledge time given is to reply with an emoji. I suspect that would be hit and miss, open to the wrong interpretation. Your šŸ‘€ make sense only after you pointed it out to me šŸ™‚ I have been wondering why from time to time I see different emojis when I receive a like. Hope all is well. Cheers.

Yes. I like Primal best, but that's the one feature from Amethyst I wish it had.

I definitely read a lot on Nostr and end up zapping because I feel a like is less valuable. Comment notes are another key that is valuable because of engagement which for me is more valuable than a zap most of the time. I do back your thoughts on this.

The gap that I feel I want to plug sits between value/like and don’t like or care for. It’s a head nod from a distance that doesn’t communicate a like or dislike.

As an aside, I am wondering if I need to redefine my understanding of value, or if I misunderstand zap theory. There is a chance that I am coming at this from the wrong angle.

I changed my standard zaps from 42 to 5...I don't like anything anymore and if I read an entire note I usually zap 5 sats. When I find it more valuable I zap more

I actually did a similar thing a while back. What I have since found though is a bit of internal tension when reading a note that I don’t agree with, or I see for the hundredth time yet another rehash of the same note from an author. I want to acknowledge but somehow not suggest that I am encouraging them. I am looking for something neutral, something that lets them know that they have been seen without positive reward. Thanks for your input šŸ™‚ Cheers.

Makes sense

If NOSTR is successful, there will be many different clients available, with varying feature sets. We are early. I’m not a coder, so I have no idea how to make these things. But, someone is, and I believe someone will.

Yeah, looking forward to seeing how it all develops.

My first response would be a long press on the like button to choose something that conveys ā€œseenā€ or ā€œheardā€ or ā€œneutral.ā€ That way it could possibly be collected as a metric. Cheers.