Oddbean

I can understand people not abandoning traditional social networks where they’ve made big investments of time & energy to build an audience… BUT I cannot understand refusing to invest ANY time and energy into a protocol that can’t be shut down. It’s like buying a huge, expensive house, filling it with your favorite things, then putting candles in every room, but refusing to add a smoke detector or buy insurance. You’re just begging to lose everything. Any investment made into a centralized service, ESPECIALLY one that is known for censoring people and shutting down accounts for no reason, should at MINIMUM require an equal investment into a decentralized alternative. If everyone who was aware of the problem did this, #Nostr wins.

Compared to when I first started using Nostr last year, I feel like the community is much more diversified and vibrant. Originally I kinda agreed with what I heard someone say on a podcast - “it’s one big bitcoin circle jerk” 😂

Well we've all been suckered into this idea that the only way the internet can provide things for us to do is through third party apps, services, and websites. Want a car to the airport? Use Uber, Bolt, Lyft, etc. Want a meal? Use Uber, Doordash, etc. Want to send a message? WhatsApp, Telegram, etc An email? Want to book a flight? Buy a toothbrush? You get the idea. The internet isn't neutral - we messed up. We let third parties, we _needed_ third parties to first add functionality to the internet, and now we're stuck in this third-party-internet design of different companies doing the same thing, over and over, and taking a cut. For what? Do we need 10 delivery apps? I should be able to broadcast a message to get a lift to the airport. Neutrally. Like hoisting a flag on my doorstep. No third parties involved, just me and the drivers around me. Same with sending messages, getting a meal, sharing with my friends, backing up my photos... same with nostr. Bitcoin showed us that running nodes/relays across the globe adds functionality to the internet in a way that cuts out the need for some third party that can be manipulated. Code is the only thing that matters. Nostr lets us send data neutrally and in a resistant way, let's build everything on that now. No more third parties.

The big influencers probably think they are bulletproof, and that their huge audience has their back - until they are banned or cancelled. Then they don't even have a platform to share their perspective. I think this is how Nostr will win; eventually, more and more people will be affected, and they will come here for asylum. Just like Trump moved to Parler when he was banned from Twitter, and it was destined to become the next big player in the space if Amazon didn't shut it down.

Yea I think it's just a matter of time until censorship increases. Idk hope many people will move over until they are personally impacted. I still spend most my time on x because it has the network effects and the largest market of different points of view. Id like for nostr to steal that network though.

I have spent a lot of time trying to mull over why a supposed bitcoiner wouldn't be thrilled by what nostr offers. I only have semi incoherent thoughts on social pressures to fit in with a dominant online culture. Nostr seems to currently select for those who truly understand the value prop of open protocols and who just don't give a fuck about what other people think.

There’s definitely something to that I suspect. I think way too many people put more value than is really there onto the frivolous “follows” on traditional social. As someone with quite a few followers on X myself, I can feel the urge to want to protect it, but in the end I realize how empty 99% of that is, and that the real network is the group of people I can just contact because I know them, or we’ve done a show together, hung out at conferences, or they listen to my work. With or without X, that’s all still there, X merely becomes a glorified “DM directory” in that context. Whereas I know others who completely judge themselves by the shallowest metric and want to simply be a part of the group (we all do obviously to varying degrees), and their “embracing the values” is less about about actually living them individually, than it is being in a group that talks about them all the time. I don’t dislike or despise people who do that, mind you, I just think it’s backwards. For most people though, it’s just a lot easier. If none of that makes sense, here’s an analogy (someone reminded me of this recently): You know those people who start a hobby and go out and buy every top-of-the-line piece of equipment for it before they even start? - Thats the people who want to be in the group on Twitter. Then there’s the people who just pick up whatever shit they have lying around the house to start their hobby. - That’s the people on #nostr. In my thinking, at least.

“Sure I built my house in a really bad hurricane zone, but I’m also building one in a really bad earthquake zone just in case!” https://media3.giphy.com/media/8x8XzoP8qQa4w/giphy.gif?cid=9b38fe91667x120lfoyfroxebt1ohp72o64wgjr6tzbu231t&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g

Great thread.... I've all but given up in purple pilling people. nostr:nevent1qqsgczyc9x37dlvpkj2l99qh43hvu7gjuyc6pa6uz462zk0ucfjnrfgpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezucnfw33k76twv4ezuum0vd5kzmp0qgstnem9g6aqv3tw6vqaneftcj06frns56lj9q470gdww228vysz8hqrqsqqqqqpwpewr6