I couldn't care less about algos or trending lists, I don't use them. I write poasts and engage with poasts I see in my timeline, that's it. Likes are useful to me, in fact they are what I mostly use nowadays to interact with other people's posts apart from replies. I haven't sent zaps in a very long time and don't care much about receiving them.

> It will change the way you associate with others here for the better.

Have you tried nostr without zaps? Perhaps the same can be said about them.

The beauty of nostr is that you can choose your experience. "Quality signal" will always be subjective imo.