I like the idea of the #GrowNostr hashtag, but a better way would be to make relays that disallow talking about Bitcoin or hand-curated accounts that don't talk about Bitcoin, then use something like the new Coracle relay browser to point newcomers to these relays where they can easily find people to follow and topics to discuss.
Discussion
Few of us been screaming out for filters lol. (I am a goose not a dev)
Maybe they could select keywords/interests when editing/setting up profile, which in turn would recommend them relays and lists that cover their interests
Topics of interest
Yeah. I am a bitcoiner but I 100% agree with this and we play with the idea of specific relays for specific hobby/country, etc
The current version of Nostr is proving to be quite challenging for new users.
I've been considering the development of a client specifically designed for beginners, which would exclude features such as Zap, Nip 05, and no "global".
Instead, it would focus on auto relay management, providing a well-curated trending feed, and offering proper suggestions for following other users.
I understand that this approach seems to contradict the essence of Nostr, but I think it's crucial for achieving broader adoption.
Once they are settled users can always switch to advanced clients – that's the beauty of Nostr.
But still I am not sure. I should discuss this with other more experienced users. I don't want to make something which can harm this protocol in anyway.
I like this idea and have been wanting it for a while to purple pill people. A dumbed down client would take a lot of the “intimidating” parts out of joining nostr.
This is topic-based onboarding and with preset starter relays but you could totally put them in certain non-bitcoin relays too.
This seems like the right approach. I will create a prototype and open-source it so that we can all build it together.
I don’t see why we can’t just have an on-boarding experience where people select a few topics they care about or don’t care about. If they unselect Bitcoin, it can just filter out the 3-4 variants of it being mentioned.
Another good example is to filter #NSFW, or perhaps content warning events.
They can always go to filters and change them in future.
The only UX weird part is it’s kind of reversing today.. you select topics you don’t want to see.. normally you select what you want to see.
We don’t need this at the relay level - at least ignoring data consumption.
I’m still surprised we don’t have more universal in-client regex filtering of Event content. We likely need an encoding we can share them with too.
Thanks #[4] for the flow. One feedback we got from new users is that they get confused when you show them public/private keys and they scramble to copy or write it down. So we took that away. Just pick a username and you are inside. Then there is a task for you at the top to show where the keys are and if you want to back it up…!
That’s good, I like that even better, will update this flow 🙌
Great thought. I suggest you look into Current App onboarding. We do not say anything about NIP05 or zaps and we do not have “global”. There is a way to port followers from twitter and you can also view trending posts and profiles.
Will be good to get your feedback to keep refining it.
I have noticed that many new users are joining through Current, which is really great.
Current can play a significant role by becoming bridge between traditional social media and Nostr, which would be a remarkable development.
Thanks got your kind words. And it is open source built on react native available on Android and iOS. Most newbies come through Apps instead of web. So better to keep focussed on Apps for new users.
We have been looking into Karnage UI flow and will greatly help if we can get additional assistance.
This is a matter of great importance, and we need to create a proper roadmap for the growth of Nostr.
It is also crucial that this future app to function flawlessly, as it will be the first impression we make on new users.
I have some demo clients I build recently. I will do some experiments with that in coming days, let's see how that goes.
Yes. We are up for it. You can include #[5] and #[6] when you have something to share so that we can iterate and keep making this better.
I think you can onboard people on NIP-05 as well. Remember early Airbnb when they asked you to verify your identity with social media accounts and your phone number?
What could decentralized identity verification look like?
Tucking all of the Bitcoin related stuff into an "Advanced Settings" tab goes a long way towards dispelling the impression that Nostr is only for "crypto-bros" or "just a vehicle for Bitcoin".
I can't really explain why I feel so lost and disconnected on Nostr via Damus. It's possible I'm not giving it a fair go and expecting it to just spoon feed me like Twitter does.
It takes a bit of work to get into the flow of things on nostr. But give it some time. Meanwhile, just explore.
>From: (debased) at 05/11/23 09:56:26 on wss://relay.damus.io
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>I can't really explain why I feel so lost and disconnected on Nostr via Damus. It's possible I'm not giving it a fair go and expecting it to just spoon feed me like Twitter does.
Just make bluesky but on nostr 😂
People may feel they need to have it all ‘installed’ right away and give up. So this would be helpful for them. I knew I didn’t understand how to set up Zap, Nip5, and I very rarely view global.. so I wait and watch and Nostr shows itself to me.🐬
On my priority list is a website that just sets them up, explains things to them, and then hands them off to a full-fledged client.
They’re used to web interfaces. I can set up their profile, their relays, their NIP-05, and a starter follow list, and even guide them through setting up for Lightning.
The idea is they don’t need to understand any of those terms to get set up.
BTW, Nostr really needs a style manual where we define better terms than “NIP-05 validation”…
personalized recommendation services with some transparent adjustable parameters should be sufficient,
and limited exposure isn't necessarily a bad thing.
It probably won't scare them away.😂
Yes, this needs improvement. Nostr is a new enough concept already with public private keys. New users would benefit from help during the first part of content discovery.
Relays could be categorized by topics and interests. Taxonomy could be done with a combination of self labeling, community labeling, and machine learning labeling. The three work together to provide an assessment of the type of content discussed on the relay.
-bitcoin,-web3,-chatgpt,-nft,-gm,-pv,-crypto
Why disallowing something? You can use more liberal ways to sort content, like marking posts unrelated to crypto with a hashtag like #outsideCrypto or something like that.
For what its worth... I think if you allow the people to expect curation, they're ultimately going to expect moderation too, possibly more than is even possible. Not that curation shouldn't be an option, but a focus on discovery education might be more valuable to the nostr concept as a whole. Something as simple as relay names being relevant to what they do would be super helpful.
I kind of like the idea but at the same time is refreshing to not let nostr think for me. Also it’s been nice to experience bitcoin life while still mostly following those with the grownostr hashtag. I’m not sure I’d want to only see that hashtag otherwise I could stay in my homesteading groups on telegram all the time.
Yeah I haven’t invited any IRL friends to Nostr yet because I know the content isn’t useful or interesting to them. I think good groupware is the way forward. Once people have spaces to talk about specific topics instead of just blasting notes out to all followers I think we’ll see big uptick in the diversity of content and users.
It's a free nostr. A thousand ideas can be tried, and some will thrive.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
The hashtag could have its own nip backend where the creator can assign other owners, admins and moderators, like a chatroom that posts to the main timeline. You are only allowed to post to the hashtag if you're following the rules and haven't been banned, and your posts can be marked by the mods as inappropriate.
Someone flamed at me about grownostr "you don't own this hashtag" which is true but it would be nice if someone did.
This doesn't work. Who is going to enforce all these rules? It requires changes in all clients. We can't do it.
What we can do is do the same thing with relays. Relays, unlike hashtags, have a clear owner: https://coracle.social/relays/d3NzOi8vcmVsYXkuc3RvbmVyLmNvbQ==
You could also try disallowing porn on the web. That would be equally as successful.
This was part of the inspiration behind my building Agora, which is a nostr client that focuses on following topics rather than following people.
This way, your feed only shows posts that line up with your interests. Sort of "Opt in to topics" vs "Opt out of topics" approach.