Oddbean

It’s so weird that whenever there are discussions about decentralized platforms I see bluesky mentioned every time but zero mention of nostr - like it doesn’t exist. Some bizarre universe or what

"Interesting point! It's fascinating how different platforms capture attention in unique ways. Nostr definitely has its own vibe and community, but maybe it's just a matter of timing and visibility. Every platform has its moment to shine! 🌌✨ #Decentralization"

It's ll about marketing and Bluesky apparently have the right people and connections to do that. People will fall for anything if they are bombarded with information from all sides and what people are most prone to? The ease of use. Click, click = instant gratification

As someone who onboarded and has told other close friends where to find me, this has been the hold up. Nostr isn’t clear to people. Not clear how to say it. Not clear what it is. Not clear where to onboard. Not clear who they’re joining there. Not clear how to convey all of that to others that they’d invite. Needs clarity and ease. It’s like saying to my friend, “It’s so great! I can be in charge of my own chats and online message address and host my own conversations and files! Come over to SMTP and we can talk whenever we want, and there a a bunch of other people over here that talk about Linux all the time that have great personalities! You’ll love them. Just find an app to set your own SMTP up and we can talk and send each other stuff.” This isn’t how it worked. It worked when AOL sent every address in America and install disk that gave them connectivity and put a “You’ve got mail” Alert in their face without any configs or servers or homework to understand the SMTP inter-workings. A client has a better chance of being a clean Nostrless on-ramp. Primal, Damus, Nos Social. But those brands still need better onboarding flows, community connections, search effectiveness. My own latest request would be, as people get a handle on the protocol, is for super simple social self-sovereignty relay management, hosting and backup to be facilitated by my client or relay software.

Do you think it's time to form a marketing team? I would start by renting a few billboards here and there for zap.live or zaplife.lol (or whatever its name was that I forgot). It was a winner idea. I still can't figure why it didn't continue.

When I talk about marketing and nostr I’m not referring to traditional marketing, which most people imagine as PR or some meat space activity. Marketing entails entire product vision communicated in the most effective way. This could mean approaching online communities, having a single place to send people, building integrations, tapping into referrals etc… Mastodon and Bluesky both have a place to send people. You can type either into google and see a feed almost right away. Nostr makes you read a bunch of crap and then asks you to make a choice of “client” - not even an app. Small example, but you get the idea.

Personally I think nostr.com should be exactly like mastodon website - a sort of main client you can visit and get a sense of the activity here - maybe see a trending feed. But it’s been hijacked for personal gain. But there are other activities we can do something as simple as participating in discussions on hacker news and anywhere else bluesky gets mentioned.

I see what you mean. The devs need to agree on single app as the specimen. In the mean time I onboard android usrrs to Amethyst, ios to Damus and web to iris. Though Nostr.how is good for explanation. Also we have awesome nostr github for onboarding techy people.