Nostr feels more “human.” It has made my online interactions, positive and negative, feel more in parallel to my in-person interactions with people. I’m not force fed particular topics or people. I open an app and simply pick up with whatever my network is talking about in the moment. Once a conversation is over or gone, I only see it again if someone I follow engages with it and I happen to be online at that time. 

I grew up before social media, and when social networking became a thing, I remember early networks had a similar vibe to nostr, minus the interoperability between apps of course. But it was mainly just people connecting with people, being goofy, chatting, sharing info, etc. It felt more in the moment, and raw/real.

Over the years “social” networks have become more and more impersonal, less about connecting with each other, and more about getting engagement and manipulating what users do and don’t see. It’s all about advertising, performance to get noticed and build a brand, manipulation of your feed/timeline to push certain topics/people/ideas. You are driven less to interact with people in your social circles, and more to interact with whatever their algos push in front of you. It feels fake and manipulative.

Nostr doesn’t feel that way. I hope that continues to be the case.