"It's a new social media where you can log in through different apps but keep your followers and relationships. So it's uncensorable! If Twitter censors you, you loose your following. If a nostr app censors you, you jump to another app, log in, and your good to go."

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Even though nostr isn't necessarily a social media, a newbie would understand the gist with those words. Explaining that it's a communications protocol which can be used for tons of other use cases can come later.

Even the zaps part can come later, unless your speaking to an influencer who is concerned with monetization.