Oddbean

Before I say anything, I would like to grant some context before I explain further. I've never actively used social media until Amethyst came along, so my opinion may be invalid. Personally, I think nostrs decreasing retention rate is an indication of a different issue... or perhaps solution, depending on you perspective: the decrease in retention rate may seem like a problem in terms of user numbers but can also be viewed as the possibility that many may be beginning to realize that their overuse of social media has become an addiction and not a solution to anything. Honestly, much of the content that I've seen on Nostr can be VERY disturbing. Social media has clearly taken a HUGE mental toll on people, especially heavy users. I don't see how a Nostr-based TikTok will help anyone. Everyone should take a break from social media! Just saying! 🤷‍♂️

I think the difference is that there's no pressure for client software to design around increasing engagement. Social Media needs the user to keep scrolling to serve the next ad and those software will gather all sorts of metrics even sacrificing a user's privacy to find out how to do that. When the incentives are perverted, the content the user engages in follows When someone's nostr on-screen time is out of control, that's on them. https://image.nostr.build/5582f282f81e1caebbb55a1c59b2fdbfbcb6fa845bcc102f1b0b89721de2fd23.jpg

I think they enable greater degrees specialization, a client can stay true/honest in terms of not having to design around serving ads meant for the common denominator. Facebook has to serve video game ads to kids and medicine to the elderly on the same platform, they can't afford to specialize so they have to appeal to their audience in other ways. It's not like there won't be a popular gambling-sex-drugs-explosion-violence-focused heroin equivalent nostr client one day when that content is made available, it's that the grandpa on nostr who wants to like a photo from Sunday church is not going to have to be forced to scroll through pages of ads telling him he needs dick pills and a cruise vacation after arguing with some foreigner about their politics to get to it🤣 nostr won't stop people who want to be glued to their screen, they might even prefer it; they'll just have more say into what is in front of them

I basically think that all social networks (centralized or not) are the same, humanly speaking. It's just the technical side that changes. I've tested all the existing networks and in the end, it's the same: you always find a few people running the show and the rest waiting to be invited. There will always be interesting things to learn on the networks, but for the most part it's pointless. Well, I'm not going to increase my 👍🏻´s, saying that, but frankly, it won't keep me awake at night.