Nos has been trying to recruit Creators and Journalists into the Nostr ecosystem since May. The results have not been great for the creators or journalists who have joined. For context we onboarded most to both Nos and Primal so they could experiment with zaps in the latter.

I analyzed the zaps received from all the creators and journalists in the program. The only 2 that received anything approaching V4V for their work were already on Nostr AND talk about Bitcoin as part of their art / creations. 

This aligns with feedback I’ve heard from other Nostr users who’ve mentioned changing what they talk about to fit in. They didn’t come here to talk about Bitcoin or Nostr development. However, in order to feel like they belong they felt the need to change what they posted here. 

My sense at this point is that Nostr is winning for its intended audience. It’s just that the audience isn’t that big. There’s been a huge effort to get Bitcoin enthusiasts to come to Nostr but the majority of those folks think of Bitcoin as an investment vehicle rather than revolutionary money. They want information that helps them invest not opt out of the fiat system. This latter point came from recent rounds of user research. 

To people outside of Nostr when they hear “censorship resistance” they think 4 Chan. Last I checked 4 Chan was the purview of teenage boys trying to be edgy and trolls. Very few creators want to associate their personal brands with that. 

I just looked at trending on Primal and the majority of notes are either Bitcoin or Nostr dev related OR by people in the top 10 popularity list on Nostr: Derek, Jack, Odell. 

If you want Nostr to grow, run an experiment for a week. Only like, repost, zap non Bitcoin or Nostr dev posts. See if your experience changes. 

Let’s see what Primal trending looks like at this time next week. (This of course assumes trending is based on engagement rather than the top 30 Nostr users.) 

To be clear there’s nothing wrong with focusing on Nostr development and Bitcoin if you are satisfied with the size of the Nostr ecosystem. And many people here are quite content. I would encourage those of you who are not to be the change you want to see. You don’t need more features, behavior change will likely kick start what you want to see.