The nostr meta is fairly easy to play, not that it wouldn't be obvious and it's not interesting to follow, but it works. It is arguably somewhat incentivised by zaps. There's ebegging, which is too obvious, but then there is ebegging with a nostr-acceptable veneer.

nostr:nevent1qqs9x7dmsavkh3hx9pljyayy5meqvh4lncfyqavrj2xr6m46cmwwelspzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43z7q3qnjst6azswskk5gp3ns8r6nr8nj0qg65acu8gaa2u9yz7yszjxs9sxpqqqqqqzh6hdsq

But even taking away the zap mechanics, there is also the quite horrible situation of having to appeal to the tastes of large owners accounts. Maybe less bad for people who happen to think along the same lines as them, be it ideolocally or humour etc.

Maybe there's not enough upward mobility on nostr lol. Further compounded by the onboarding recommendations. More followers = More good, more followers = more read receipts, more read receipts = trending, and even more exposure.

Most accounts have followers because they're carrying over clout from bitcointwitter, or theyre nostr devs (I don't mind this one acceptable actually), or they got here early and/or been blessed by the aforementioned for aligning with them somehow. A lot of the time. Stagnation.

Meanwhile there I have actually found some notable new accounts quietly getting on with posting interesting stuff and looking for interesting stuff.

If I may..... From the vaults:

nostr:nevent1qqs8q44xl954ztkx0e6jadms690pj36eu8fsm66uefst6jhe9z6suhcpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43z7q3qnjst6azswskk5gp3ns8r6nr8nj0qg65acu8gaa2u9yz7yszjxs9sxpqqqqqqz3xr5kk