In 2010 I was not motivated to use twitter, in fact without much information, I assumed it was retarded just like facebook. Facebook was obviously stupid because young women were addicted to it, like shoes and purses. I hate looking at shoes and I don't need another bag, so why would I do social media?
One day I asked people how to market my business. They told me to "go on twitter" and market it that way. After a few people telling me the same thing, I signed up.
I created a profile, but didn't understand the model. I am an expert in digital communication protocols, it is what I do, so I assumed twitter was just another frontend around a chatroom to talk to people you already know. It was "social" afterall, and "networking" is having a bunch of private conversations, so it had to be a way to chat with people similar to IRC.
After poking around, I had to make assumptions about what I was looking at. It looked like I could "join" a chatroom centered around an individual by "following" them. The term "follow" seemed strange, so I assumed it was some kind of gimmick. I got frustrated because I didn't know what to do next or how to use it, and I didn't know anyone on there I wanted to have a conversation with.
I fell into the "its too complicated" trap. What I needed was someone to *show* me, not explain it to me. It was plenty easy to use, but the paradigm escaped me.
About 2013 I wanted to contact an old neighbor but I didn't have their telephone number. They weren't on facebook and I couldn't find their phone or email with google searches. I tried twitter, and voila, they were on there. I tried to send them a message, but couldn't find the text box to chat after clicking on their "contact" (profile.)
I was confused as hell! How the hell do you use this fucking chat program? I saw a compose button somewhere else (the timeline) but I wanted to send a message to this person. How?
I figured out the "@" system and thought "well maybe this is how I create a private chatroom. A compose button is a wierd way to create a chatroom." So I drafted a post with the person's "@" handle asking them for their phone or email.
Little did I know anyone that followrd me could see that post.
It wasn't until many years later that I began to understand what twitter really was. It was because of the need to follow the writings of a public figure that opened my eyes to the "public" model of social media.
So when you are trying to convert people to #nostr, just realize its motivation that allows their mental wall to be overcome. You need to help them tunnel through with a "quantum leap" by first explaining the *why*, then they will ask the *how*
