The bitcoin network and Nostr are teaching me the simple fact that real network requires exchanges of value. I’ve gotten so used to selfishly consuming “free” content while selling my life and my time away, never commenting, never posting, and feeling dismayed at seeing others who post turning into self-aggrandizing maniacs.

The centralized networks are built on taking and extracting value. Therefore, you lose either way whether you engage or consume.

Decentralized networks force you to give some of yourself while taking some of others. If you refuse, you rightly don’t exist on the network. And that’s fair. No more free stuffs. It’s me who has to change.