Guys...I had an idea recently that I've been simmering on, and I think I might be onto something big here.
The zapping ecosystem unlocks infinite possibilities for expertise-seekers and expertise-providers to meet for a win-win transaction. But I feel like we haven't even scratched the surface on this in terms of building out an ecosystem of P2P micro-economies through the use of the "#Ask_____" hashtag format.
Imagine... experts of all types, across all fields, aggregating around hashtags according to their skillset, so they can answer plebs' questions, who then zap them for their input.
Examples:
Doctors: #AskDocs
Lawyers: #AskALawyer
Web/App Development: #AskDevs
Need Help Writing: #AskAWriter
Need Relationship Advice: #DatingAdvice #AskAMarriageCounselor
Need General Life Advice: #AskALifeCoach
(Hashtag semantics could be tweaked of course, but you get the idea)
It could also be expanded into freelancing requests, such as:
Need a logo design: #NeedDesigner
Need editing help on a written piece: #NeedEditor
And literally anything else the purple hivemind could think of...
As you can imagine, the depth of which we could take this is infinite. Literally anyone out there with expertise in ANYTHING could bootstrap a hashtag that other nostriches could use if they ever need help. And if lots of other folks do see value in having a channel opened up with a group of experts in that niche, all they have to do is just follow that hashtag, and use it anytime they have a question.
Of course, in order for this to work, Both the experts and the question-askers would have to embrace the concept wholeheartedly, making those hashtags active enough that the experts have enough of a financial incentive to keep that hashtag bookmarked, and actually spend time scrolling through and answering questions. But I think this would fit so well with the Nostr culture, that it has major potential to gain momentum quickly.
We've already seen how popular #AskNostr has been, and that hasn't even had a formal #Value4Value culture around it. It emerged completely organically, exactly how I expect all of these others would, given enough community enthusiasm. Ultimately this whole idea would just be an evolution of the #AskNostr concept—expanding the "#Ask_____" format out to EVERYTHING, with the embedded etiquette that you ZAP those that help you.
Eventually, if it grew big enough, we may see a large enough ecosystem of hashtags emerge that we could have either npubs, or a centralized database that tracks the most popular #Ask_____ hashtags, so the whole community knows which ones are the most active should they ever have a question within that topic. (This would also act as great purple-pilling bait for experts from these fields that aren't on Nostr yet. By joining the protocol, they could then start earning #Bitcoin by participating in this zapping ecosystem, directly with people around the world who are willing to pay for their expertise).
Once this idea gets engrained deeply enough into the Nostr culture, the maintenance of the concept would be quite simple 👇
EXPERTISE-SEEKERS:
- Post your questions, using the corresponding hashtag (ex: for a medical question, #AskDocs)
- Follow good etiquette and zap the doctors who answer your question (perhaps you could also attach a bounty to the note, i.e. "best answer gets a 10K zap")
EXPERTS:
a) Keep tabs on the hashtag corresponding to your field
b) Answer questions
c) Earn zaps ⚡️
d) Optionally, you could also put the hashtag(s) you frequent in your bio, to raise awareness on it (thus bringing more future questions ---> more zaps for you 🔄) so your followers know that's where to go to get advice from you and other experts in your field.
This would be a very interesting free market experiment, which I could see blowing up should both experts and question-askers embrace the idea of an open ecosystem of #V4V help channels.
Since the most obvious example I can think of as a kickoff test would be medical advice from doctors, I will tag in the Nostr docs I know below. I know nostr:nprofile1qqsd7msd66kcej39cpuu0n4ln9jce7gjgz65ck6deyzyytnay95sqhspx9mhxue69uhkummyv5hxxmmfde3hyet9dvhxxmmd9ahx7um5wf3kc6t9de6z7ctsdyhhvvf0wfjkccteqyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqy38wumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttkv4exjenfv4jzuam9d3kx7unyv4ezumn9wsacwhjf has already been doing exactly what I talked about above on an individual level (answering dentistry questions to anyone who tags him, in exchange for zaps).
What do y'all think about this, nostr:nprofile1qqstzt0wugc7sklvr8e7fcl7ukyn63ym3ns4nmf2mnk0vqnz4l9x65qpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezumtfv3jxc6twvuhx67tydeeju6nsqythwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytn5dacx2arg9e5kuen0te28kw nostr:nprofile1qqsra0r5jp73ly50yz00yy8gwt9vqvl270lcne59x2rdghv3udg7l8spzdmhxue69uhhqatjwpkx2urpvuhx2ue0sv2m5n nostr:nprofile1qqsxknkf3upwv3lqz3qtguammy48lt3puqdk4fkxtcedh99rvzfzwtsppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qydhwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgunsd3jkyuewvdhk6tcpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuen0w4h8gctfdchxvmgm0eauz nostr:nprofile1qqszjf0k3vznlcvcw4efurpywfannqkegp69kwccfvz5yzqgft6tukcpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgtc8n0pm0 nostr:nprofile1qqst0xtvrqlqxm0j0qpfgkuqh0wgkzl4judkvgdgd0e4d8pnyytlqlgpz4mhxue69uhhwmm59eekjctdwd68ytnrdakszxthwden5te0wpex2mtfw4kjuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgtcpz4mhxue69uhhwmm59eek7anzd96zu6r0wd6qu6c2pf nostr:nprofile1qqsdvyenvujkqs4xwae3se2m78ecmrxaj385h2nvpdcw7jcztx227pqprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuumwdae8gtnnda3kjctvqy28wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hszyrhwden5te0dehhxarj9emkjmn929qg0h? Would you participate in following the #AskDocs hashtag, answering people's questions, and earning extra zaps for it?
I'll leave it here for the Nostr community to discuss. Am I thinking too big, or could this be the next big trend that takes P2P #V4V into another stratosphere?
Share your thoughts below!
