Oddbean

This is the profile that prompted me to make this note. It's sad because he's a creator and would have loved Nostr if he took more time to understand it before getting scared away. This is a loss for us.

@Rabble this is an unfair characterization. As far as I can see his reply feed is full of people saying there is a lot of choice, and instructions on how to remove things the newcomer is not interested in. The bigger thing we are up against isn’t bitcoin people, but rather BigCo social media conditioning social media users they are powerless and toolless to modify what they see to their liking. Maybe this deserves an onboarding disclaimer or two cc @Linda

I think this person’s experience is an opportunity for the Nostr community to reflect on how we welcome people to the protocol. There is an assumption by many here that Nostr = Bitcoin and vice versa. But there are others here as well as people who want to be here who are not into Bitcoin. They don’t care if you are, but they are not. There is very little room for folks who are not into Bitcoin or zaps or wallets to simply be here and talk about their interests. Everyone in that thread was super nice and had no ill intent, however most assumed incorrectly that everyone who joins Nostr is into Bitcoin and zaps and sats. This person could have been personally scammed by crypto or had family with a bad experience etc. We don’t know bc instead of taking the time to get to know them and recommend accounts to follow, we simply bombarded them about zaps and sats and wallets. It’s the equivalent of handing a stranger who has only eaten overcooked meat and potatoes some sashimi and expecting them to eat it and not run away. If we want to grow Nostr we need to meet people where they are. Get curious. Ask questions about their work. Share some accounts to follow or topical relays or other cool apps. Giving them the space to get curious on their own is much more likely to spark interest in zaps etc.

It’s not that the people replying weren’t friendly and welcoming. And we have lots of people who are interested in music or photography on Nostr. It’s how he felt “this place isn’t for me” rather than, “oh this is how I find the music and photography people” And I think all of the replies made Nostr seem complicated and overwhelming. Just like how most people never change a single setting in the software they use. We’re a community of tinkerers and early adopters. Folks who want something that “just works” aren’t going to want to read more onboarding instructions or spend a bunch of time learning how nostr works.

if i’m being honest, i think nostr has the easiest and most frictionless signup to the point where you start to customise what you see. that’s a good starting point! no email or phone number required, but i think we might need to work on the “setup wizard” part which personalises the “platform” to your liking. i know it won’t be easy since it’s up to tons of clients to do it themselves, but i think we have a good start but could do better with helping ppl understand the importance of their nsec & help onboard them a lil better