Nostr Web Client

Why Nostr is struggling…

There is too much of an overlap with X, not only in the feature sets among the primary applications, but more importantly, in the kind of audience that Nostr is catering to.

Sure..censorship resistance at the protocol level is a differentiator, but the to the average person, you may as well be talking gibberish. They don’t know wtf a protocol is in the first place - let alone why it matters for censorship resistance to happen at that level, or more importantly, WHY they should trust Nostr to deliver on that promise. “Bcoz nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m said so” is not an argument.

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Bluesky is a case in point here.

It’s got a VERY similar feature set to X, claims to be open source / censorship resistant (similar narrative to Nostr), and is growing MUCH faster than Nostr, bc it has captured a key audience, ie; people with TDS and EDS (Elon Derangement Syndrome).

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/bluesky-signups-surge-uk-amid-musks-row-with-government-over-riots-2024-08-13/?

I’ve been on there a few times, and the content quality is enough to make you want to throw up….but at the very least, it’s working for that kind of content, and for the people who want it.

I don’t have a direct answer here..but I think it’s something to do with the over-emphasis on technicals.

nostr:npub1az9xj85cmxv8e9j9y80lvqp97crsqdu2fpu3srwthd99qfu9qsgstam8y8 mentioned increasing the emphasis on design the other day. I agree this is a move in the right direction. We’re taking a very design-focused approach with nostr:npub15xd2mmjnh3caykh77djsv73e0zkrp42jp5mwerx8f4m6su40wdvss7t3l3 (we’ll have ALOT more to show in the next 6wks).

That being said, it’s not enough.

IMO, Nostr is technically mature enough for us to go out there and talk about it to more people, and build a narrative BEYOND the 500 of us that are talking to each other on here.

People like nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft or nostr:npub1dergggklka99wwrs92yz8wdjs952h2ux2ha2ed598ngwu9w7a6fsh9xzpc can correct me if I am wrong here. Maybe there’s alot more to do technically.

But if I am right, I’d like to see more initiatives that are marketing oriented being supported by nostr:npub17xvf49kht23cddxgw92rvfktkd3vqvjgkgsdexh9847wl0927tqsrhc9as and nostr:npub10pensatlcfwktnvjjw2dtem38n6rvw8g6fv73h84cuacxn4c28eqyfn34f and other coalitions. Maybe we even need a council of Nostr businesses, who together pool some funds to help drive some marketing initiatives?

Whatever the case, we need to expand upon the Nostr narrative, make it more compelling and speak to more people about it.

At the very least, we have to conquer then Bitcoiners. If we can’t get the segment who are into freedom money onto the freedom of speech network, we’re DOA. That’s a first step.

I know nostr:npub1hz5alqscpp8yjrvgsdp2n4ygkl8slvstrgvmjca7e45w6644ew7sewtysa is working on a very cool initiative in relation to this. The Nostr Booth is IMO a great way to make Nostr more “real” for bitcoiners by having a physical presence at all the conferences.

I know nostr:npub1utx00neqgqln72j22kej3ux7803c2k986henvvha4thuwfkper4s7r50e8 + nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6 are doing some Podcast outreach. That’s super important too. nostr:npub16vrkgd28wq6n0h77lqgu8h4fdu0eapxgyj0zqq6ngfvjf2vs3nuq5mp2va and crew are putting on Nostriga. Amazing. nostr:npub16c0nh3dnadzqpm76uctf5hqhe2lny344zsmpm6feee9p5rdxaa9q586nvr / nostr:npub12vkcxr0luzwp8e673v29eqjhrr7p9vqq8asav85swaepclllj09sylpugg are doing great things with nostr:npub1spdnfacgsd7lk0nlqkq443tkq4jx9z6c6ksvaquuewmw7d3qltpslcq6j7, etc on the content side. I’ve got some things up my sleeve personally which I will begin to do once nostr:npub15xd2mmjnh3caykh77djsv73e0zkrp42jp5mwerx8f4m6su40wdvss7t3l3 is in a position to represent a NEW kind of Nostr-product..

But we need MOAR..

And…we also need to find another angle that is NOT about censorship resistance. That’s clearly not working against X.

I don’t know the EXACT narrative or spin, but it has to be more “running towards” than “running from”.

More white pill, less black pill.

Anyway.

I will probably turn this into an article. I’ve been thinking more and more about “writing in public” as we build Satlantis, and sharing more about how we’re thinking about growing a “network product” on top of a “network protocol”.

If you think this was valuable, please repoast so more people can see and get involved in the discussion.

AHWhite 1y ago

I think with Elon's takeover of twitter and the continuing alienation of people, Nostr is at the right place at the right time but I agree that it would be great if it could capitalize on this opportunity more rapidly. The "gradually then suddenly" mantra is not wrong but maybe it is too idealistic.

Apart from the no-brainer to capture as much of the bitcoin crowd as possible and - for lack of a better term - better marketing, two aspects could also be considered:

a) similar to bitcoin's value proposition, not looking at it from a western perspective but thinking about the long term appeal of Nostr to people living under authoritarian regimes. It should be immediately obvious to anyone living under such a regime how Nostr differentiates from Twitter & co in many regards (e.g. doxxing risk from the central authority, shutting down their account because the government said so etc.). Make Nostr better known to those people and maybe we see a rapid rise in participation. I realize many good people like nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu are working that angle already but could we do more in that direction?

b) that might be controversial but I strongly believe if one could convince a major celebrity to switch to Nostr exclusively from twitter, you will have a big portion of their following joining along. Imagine if Taylor Swift tomorrow declares that she quits twitter and will continue on Nostr! Nostr would immediately gain millions of users. Question is, if/how to convince a celebrity with a strong following to become exclusive? Apart from idealistic arguments, maybe purely financial motivation is needed? I realize this is going to rub a lot of people the wrong way but what if instead of nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m supporting Nostr development work with the next round of money, Swift gets paid $5M to become Nostr exclusive for 3 months? This might have a bigger impact on Nostr' popularity and uptake than anything else.

Not the morally best way to do it and the numbers might be off but I'm more playing devils advocate a bit here for brainstorming reasons.

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Discussion

Men ☕ 1y ago

We need strategic campaigns designed for different creators to convince them:

- Those who care about fame should be promised exposure and recognition.

ex: Tiktokers

- Those who care about money should be offered promotion deals.

ex: Influencers

- Those who care about legacy should be given the promise of a censorship-free platform.

ex: Authors and Writers