Why Nostr is strugglingâŚ
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 donât 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. âBcoz nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m said soâ is not an argument.
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Bluesky is a case in point here.
Itâs 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/?
Iâve been on there a few times, and the content quality is enough to make you want to throw upâŚ.but at the very least, itâs working for that kind of content, and for the people who want it.
I donât have a direct answer here..but I think itâs 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. Weâre taking a very design-focused approach with nostr:npub15xd2mmjnh3caykh77djsv73e0zkrp42jp5mwerx8f4m6su40wdvss7t3l3 (weâll have ALOT more to show in the next 6wks).
That being said, itâs 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 thereâs alot more to do technically.
But if I am right, Iâd 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 canât get the segment who are into freedom money onto the freedom of speech network, weâre DOA. Thatâs 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 ârealâ for bitcoiners by having a physical presence at all the conferences.
I know nostr:npub1utx00neqgqln72j22kej3ux7803c2k986henvvha4thuwfkper4s7r50e8 + nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6 are doing some Podcast outreach. Thatâs 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. Iâve 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..
AndâŚwe also need to find another angle that is NOT about censorship resistance. Thatâs clearly not working against X.
I donât know the EXACT narrative or spin, but it has to be more ârunning towardsâ than ârunning fromâ.
More white pill, less black pill.
Anyway.
I will probably turn this into an article. Iâve been thinking more and more about âwriting in publicâ as we build Satlantis, and sharing more about how weâre thinking about growing a ânetwork productâ on top of a ânetwork protocolâ.
If you think this was valuable, please repoast so more people can see and get involved in the discussion.
