The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, but I think modern social networks like Instagram and TikTok were primarily designed to capture and direct your attention — to make you focus on what those in control want you to see.
TikTok, in particular, represents the next generation of algorithm-driven content distribution, and it’s often used as a tool to promote certain political narratives. Governments spend massive amounts on TikTok advertising during elections — at least, that’s the case in my home country.
What I’m getting at is this: TikTok operates within powerful investment and influence networks. So where does Nostr fit into this picture? Do we even want a platform that captures user attention in the same way? And if we do, how should we approach it?
Login to reply
Replies (1)
Nostr fits into the picture by not promoting algorithmic feeds and only showing what your followers post, thereby removing the toxic sludge of attention-grabbing content solely for the purpose of data harvesting, which is used to fund operations by sending it to third parties. We can simply opt out by choosing #nostr
Who's to say that #Rumble won't operate the same way Big Tech currently functions? Is it decentralized? No. Is it open source? As far as I know, only its content moderation tools are open source, but that's about it (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Is it censorship-resistant? They claim to be, as designed. However, since they have a CEO and board of directors, they have to answer to somebody. So, it's only a matter of time before it won't be as censorship-resistant as they claim, especially under governmental pressure.
So, where does Nostr fit into this? It fits by serving as a decentralized, open-sourced, and censorship-resistant protocol that doesn't serve any single entity, unlike a centralized platform like Rumble