What other social media was good at was feedback. Feedback ist the "social" in response to the "media".

On Nostr, I have some followers, but I have no idea what they want to read.


Do they only want to read posts about Nostr? Doubt. But that's what they're going to get from me, if that's all they respond to. And that's why people who arrive here, talking about other stuff, quickly give up and talk about Nostr or leave.

I've been resisting it, lately, but I'm a writer. Writers write, in order for it to be read. It's work. I'm not going to write stuff and have it return a wall of silence. I'm not that much of a sociopath.


Especially because the boring stuff is easier to write! I could even program a bot to write it. And I bet some of the boring stuff is bots, since a lot of the people on here are programmers and it's really easy to write a "stuff that trends and gets zaps" program.

You only need a human for something truly novel.


Using the platform to circle jerk about the platform is exactly what everyone wants, actually.


All alt boards have this problem. The scope of conversation is too narrow. It's boring. If you are a real person with interests outside the niche, you get ignored.


I want to read your thoughts since you have a different approach that might be interesting


Your notes make me think and usually challenge me in some way abs I appreciate that.


Also though, don't forget about all the lurking (readers).. don't socials have way more readers than those that reply and react?  as a writer are you ok with people *just reading?  There will be no stats other than maybe counting #followers for that on nostr.  They even may be people reading without even following..


I think this actually applies to most of my followers, but I don't receive that feedback.

Most writers are writing on multiple platforms, so we have to choose "what to write where", and we quickly get trained to use Nostr to write about Nostr or post landscape photos, and we move the other topics to places that supply more feedback.

Writers want to publish where the readers will read and respond.


One interesting experiment you can try is host an image somewhere that you can count the number of hits it gets.. use it as a signature block on your posts.  Maybe you're getting way more readership than you might think?  🦜


I have no idea if anyone is reading, tho. 🤷♀

Mostly feels like I'm talking to myself and my five frens. I could just talk to them elsewhere or in a walled garden, and then I don't have to deal with any bullshit.

There is a risk to writing something publicly that isn't conforming or dull. Nostr lets me write it, but gives no comensurate reward, so it's demotivating.


Images always get responses. That's why I post a lot of images.

Images are "safe" posts.
And they're so easy to generate, nowadays.


Meta content is basically self reflection and an over saturation of that is both a cause and effect of lowadoption


I don't know. I use only nostr. Don't like the other choices, neither i have time. I rarely read nostr related topics and i like landscapes, recipies and food. Some music too for easy reading-listening.


Right, you could make the image just a really small line of text with your name or something.  On YouTube, you know how they beg for likes and comments, they were doing that because most people don't do those things naturally and the algo rewarded it..  Views are most of their real metric, yet that was gamed too easily so the tech adapted to encourage more than just viewing..  Not sure any of that matters here, without any advertising impressions.

I do think a lot about the reasons social media even exists or why anyone would use it, or what they would use it for now that we are resetting from big media advert driven incentives.

It's interesting to think about.  What drives creative people to 'publish' their things.  What matters to them?  What matters to their readers?

The answers I believe are potentially numerous and different for everyone.


Most writers write compulsively, out of some internal well; not for monetary gain.

They value readers most.
They are sending a message and want to know if it was received and sparked some emotional response or interesting thought.

Otherwise, it's just mental masturbation in public.


Everyone likes them, but you don't need a human for any of that...

Will Nostr turn into a sort of bot radio channel? Maybe that's where this is all headed.


Seems clear enough when you put it that way 😂


It's not the same. For example you posted a picture with some food you bought. That gives me a picture of food from a German household that i had no idea, which is interesting. Then you said the strawberries cost 14€ the milk 1€ etc. And i wondered, how is that eggs in countryside in Germany are cheaper than here? What's going on?
All that needs interaction.
You only have to interact in the end, posting is just a start and bots can't do that


I think you’re doing good. Just share what’s on your mind :)
If I force myself to share things the quality lacks… so I stop forcing myself and maybe post less…
I often read your stuff but don’t feel like agreeing or I don’t feel like disagreeing. I just see your opinion as it is, and I value your opinions. Maybe, very rarely, I use it as an inspiration to share something, like yesterday, where I wanted to talk about that insults or anger make the quality of ones argument worse. Because someone insulted you because of your opinion.

I don’t participate in nostr tech stuff, it’s just not a big passion to analyze what to build next. I often discuss this with my partner. Tell him my ideas when we talk about lumina.
And I don’t want to build an opinion on how men or women have to behave, it’s not so important to me. I’m more interested in communication itself. But I read it and pick what’s valuable for me.
And yes, the nature stuff is beautiful to look at. I think it really inspires people to spend more time in nature, and so, you can make a great influence. I think it’s good when nostr is full of nature related stuff!

I think I don’t miss many of your notes. You show up on my filtered relay list, „my global feed“. People have their values and decide what they want to react to.
It’s important to me to care for our online friendship aswell, so I’m happy for every little conversation about whatever with you. :)

But yeah, it costs time and energy to share things, especially unpopular things. No feedback may be also a feedback? Here you have my feedback. But often that doesn’t matter if you truly stand behind something.


And I didn't even resort to caps.


Yes, no feedback is also feedback. Precisely.

I am saying that I am not certain that readers understand that merely lurking discourages people from writing about what they are reading because it feels like talking to ourselves.

From the responses I've gotten from my complaints, people actually are reading the other stuff, but in secret. Perhaps Nostr being a public ledger discourages interaction on anything that is uncommon or controversial.


I already had this thought in my head. I put it in writing to share it with other people.
I could more-easily write about something more mundane. Writing about novel things is difficult; it is more effort and risk and requires much more talent, and opens you up to vitriol.

Perhaps the more unusual things are going to end up under subscription, for the small niche they serve, and the main feed will remain as it is, forever, and I should simply adapt.

Perhaps I am simply mourning this inevitable ending, as I had hoped the Nostr Story would end differently.


Humans have more potential to be interesting, yes, but humans have to be motivated to work. Bots labour, regardless. They don't care about making an emotional connection.

They can win, simply with volume, and tailoring to how people respond.

Humans have to decide if they want to communicate with other humans or only with machines, or with some mix of the two. We have a mix, now, but the machines are set to win.


Who cares if the bots win overall. I like to read your posts no matter what the bots do. Moreover bots don't make a place look alive, humans do. And you particularly, you (among others) do make the place alive. So... Keep posting. I also like informations from every day life to compare. For example how much do your lebensmittel cost?


Keep going.

You are a person with something to say. That makes you a minority of sorts. Not everyone likes your kind.

Their remedy is to unfollow, mute, leave the protocol if they can’t take it.

You are doing God’s work IMO, and I don’t even agree with you half the time!


It's odd how controversial we are and how everyone completely melts down around us, when we are so... What exactly are we? 🤔

Prim. Yes, we are prim and proper.

This is the most dangerous tone to write in, I think.


Maybe you attract the people that want to say something about it and that’s a start. The lack of users make it more difficult. No feedback can really be unmotivating. I like to talk about astrology but I realized it doesn’t seem to interest most people here. But I’m always glad when I find someone that listens or is interested. Maybe nostr is not the right place for it. For me, reaching just one person with it would be enough. But writing about it is time consuming.
It’s also time consuming to react on others thoughts.
On the one hand, it’s often niche, and you wish for a walled garden, or a curating mechanism. On the other hand you want to reach more people and make them think about something they normally don’t think about.


Yes — the more “proper” you are, the more cognitive dissonance it generates.


Yes. I guess that's why I've resisted only posting that stuff "in private". I keep thinking, perhaps there's one. more. person.

I feel a bit like Abraham, pleading with the Lord to spare Sodom, if he can find even 10 righteous people in the whole town.

Shall I keep publishing about economics on Nostr, if there are only 10 people interested in discussing the eurodollar's impact on the federal funds rate? 😂


Speak softly and carry a parasol with a very point end.


"But writing about it is time consuming."

This, right here. Anything that requires research, planning, or deep knowledge, is an "unnattractive post" because the reward for that effort is too low.

There are other topics or styles of post that require much less effort and receive more reward. This is what I meant about feeling like I'm being nudged: write about this, not about that. So we all subconsciously drift toward where there is the most reward for the least effort...

("Reward", not just in zaps, but it discussion with humans.)


Furthermore, I think writing about something more obscure or particular is "proof of human", as it's irrational behavior driven by the desire of the author. And that leads to increased trolling because it is safe to assume that a real person wrote it and feels strongly about it.

It carries a "scent of human". If you add the "perfume of female" to it, hold onto your hardhats. 😂


I have a Psychic mediumship portal on #dscvr if you’d like to join. Starting community is a challenge, new things are.  One by one we build communities we want to be a part of and see where it goes 🤔😃☀🦋 https://dscvr.one/p/psychic-mediumship


Keep posting! People will find you as more understand web3 In still very much learning and I’m thankful when people post and interact with my content. Pioneers can be lonely along the way but with persistence community is built with people you really want in your community ☀🦋


Humans attention is worthy and how you pack it is important to reach it.
But also, one can only acknowledge the effort you put into something, filtered through their values. It’s disappointing yes.
Deep thoughts are valuable, but also it’s sometimes valuable for us to enjoy life and don’t always think. To just stop and smell the flowers. But yeah you’re right, it seems like the more work you put in the less rewards you get. The best you can do is sell your words as good as possible, if you want to reach many people. Don’t give up!