Zap Mentions / some thoughts on broadcasting zaps...
Today on nostr zaps don't provide a great discovery signal because they are fundamentally reactions which you only see if the event being zapped is in already your feed.
If you don't see the content, you won't see the zap reaction, and therefore you won't get the payment signal that indicates the content is valuable.
Zaps also can't trend on nostr because they can't be liked / reposted / zapped / quoted / replied to.
As a user there is no way for me to broadcast a zap in the same way I would broadcast a kind 1 note. I can share my thoughts on something - but there's no way for me to increase the signal of those words by including a zap alongside them. Examples where you might want to do this include:
- donating to a good cause
- sharing a long form article
- supporting a content creator
- thanking a supporter for a zap
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Potential Solution - Zap Mentions
I think there is a solution to this that doesn't require a new nip or change to the spec. Zap events could just be embedded in kind 1 notes using the standard NIP-27 nevent1 format.
Clients could give users the option to 'broadcast' their zap within a kind 1 note in certain cases and other clients could render some additional UI to display the zap.
Below is an example zap I just sent to @jb55 - you will probably be reading this just as nevent1... but it would be trivial for clients to parse this and render the zap in whatever way they choose:
View quoted note →
Ultimately we don't want users of nostr clients to be forced into a choice between sharing content or zapping it - we want them to be able to do both in one frictionless action and this will generate the most signal and make nostr the most attractive place for content creators.
I would love to hear thoughts on this from client developers / designers - @fiatjaf @jb55 @miljan @hodlbod @PABLOF7z @JeffG @HoloKat @Niel Liesmons @Gigi
And if someone wants to try rendering this note in the way I've described please tag me!
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Replies (29)
Damus renders the note: 

yup would be a good idea
the rezap⚡️😵💫
Interestingly #amethyst also renders it but only shows the recipient and not the zapper. Same same but different 😜


UPDATE - seems like this is already partially working:
- @Damus displays zapper image and zap message
- @primal and @npub1nz64...0w5y display zap message
I guess it's not too much of a lift to add zap sender and recipient to the embedded notes?
View quoted note →
Here’s how Nostur shows it


Ok nice thanks for sharing! I guess the embedding logic would have to pull the zapper pubkey from the tags rather than using the kind 9735 pubkey but that shouldn’t be too hard
I would love to see zaps and their related info more richly integrated into client UI with more options for interacting with them. I hope this topic gains traction.
Reading my mind sir. #V4V


Yes. Zap interactions let's gooooooow!
🔥🔥🔥
Could just make this an option beside repost and quote, since the UI for choosing one or the other is already there.
Maybe a quote note format that displays the amount you zapped it — placed around where your text usually is.
Oscar, check out @npub18l3f...za55
I think there’s something there. Maybe not exactly what you’re thinking but it’s certainly adjacent and may add to the idea you’re forming.
@primal also shows the recipient and not the zapper.
Works great already today in noStrudel
You should definitely keep my boy @hzrd149 in on these convos, he's the dev behind noStrudel
And of course I forgot to add the screencap


I love this approach! Give users the option to tell clients to treat zaps just like normal notes, but with an amount attached to it. Some zaps have more interesting content than the notes they reference.
I love how it’s embedded in-line on Nostur versus at the end of the note
I’m not sure if I see anything to be solved here.
1. Content doesn’t need to be in your feed to get signal from zaps - if you have a most zapped feed you’d discover that way.
2. I don’t see why you’d want a zap to trend considering this can be faked. Even legit zaps - seems a lot like bragging and gives off negative vibes.
3. There is no forced choice between zap and share - people can do both. Zap then share.
Overall I get markety gross vibes from needing to advertise zaps. If the note already displays zap amounts, I don’t see why the zap needs to be shared on its own.
Perhaps this is just my personal opinion of zaps’ place in social context and perhaps it’s the reason I only zap anonymously now. I see some clients do zap embed in notes now but I personally do not like that nor agree with it.
TURBO NORMIE💀
ZAPVERTISING IS COMING FOR YOU ;)
I don’t have a problem with zapvertising. If the content is not scammy, that’s fine. I also have the option of blocking that person. People can zap however they wish.
I like the idea of being able to easily mention zaps. Then we could zap zaps.


Zapception
#zapchain

love the idea