My Nostr story, Part 2

#nostr

Shortly after writing my Nostr story a few weeks ago, I realized that there was more to tell as far as why I continue to use Nostr. This part of the story involves my attempts to get people I know to use it. Generally, if they aren’t already in the developer community or a Bitcoiner, they haven’t heard of it. And many are entrenched in whatever social media app they currently use because of existing networks. This makes investing time in learning about key pairs and relays seem pointless. There’s no obvious benefit. The concern is the potential loss of connection to their community. Right now, there’s no easy way to fix that. At least until we have a bridge to every existing social media app that would allow someone to access them via Nostr. Is this even possible? I hope so. I have faith in the developers on here.

Just to be clear about what I’m saying. Nostr version clients of popular apps are amazing. But it’s the fact that there are people who know you and the knowledge that they will respond to you that makes the older apps so sticky.

No one wants to move to a new school and make new friends. You want to keep your old friends and hang out with them until you find a similar crowd at the new place.

The Plot Twist

All of that being said, that’s not where this story is meant to go. I actually wanted to talk about one conversation I had while trying to get a friend to try Nostr. She works in politics with some public relations and business experience. I gave her my best explanation of how the relays work, what key pairs are, what it means to be decentralized, how you only need one set of keys to access all of the different clients and then for the flourish, I mentioned zapping. She was ambivalent about everything I mentioned…………..until I explained zapping. Then she asked questions. (I’m paraphrasing)

***scene one***

What are you zapping?

Bitcoin.

Oh, like in-app tokens. What do they do when they get zapped?

Get Bitcoin.

Can they keep the Bitcoin?

Yes.

And then what?

They can hold on to it or zap it to someone else.

Where does it go?

In a thing called a wallet. They’re easy to set up.

How do you zap someone?

With a little button that looks like a lightning bolt in the app.

Huh?

Yes. You have a wallet that connects to the app. And when you click on the lightning bolt on someone’s note, it sends Bitcoin to someone else. And if they click on the lightning bolt on your note, they can send you Bitcoin too. It’s instant.

So, you can just zap someone for any reason?

Yes.

Wait, what happens after you get zapped?

They get Bitcoin.

Just Bitcoin?

Oh, well, they can convert the Bitcoin into currency like US dollars. But you can just keep the Bitcoin too.

And you can just zap anyone?

Yes. If I liked something you posted in a note, I can zap you. Or if I liked a picture or a song…. I can zap you. Almost like….

Unregulated commerce!

Yes. Unregulated commerce.

That’s amazing. Well, I’m going to check it out.

***end scene***

In case you missed it, I like Nostr also because of the unregulated commerce it allows. The traditional definition of commerce according to Merriam-Webster is the “interchange of ideas, opinions, or sentiments”. The business definition of commerce is “an exchange of goods or services for money or something of equal value.” Believe it or not, that’s what we’re all doing while we post our favorite hashtag, memes, AI pictures, songs, videos or even deep thoughts. And it’s unregulated because no one owns it. And that, my fellow nostriches, is what people are interested in. The notes are the interchange of ideas. The Bitcoin is the something of equal value.

*kisses* Annie