Lyn's article is probably the best I've seen, but it mentions Bitcoin 25 times 🥹 Just do a find and replace with something else 🤣

Lyn Alden

The Power of Nostr: Decentralized Social Media and More

Published: July 2024 It would be powerful if you could bring your digital identity, content, and followers from one social ecosystem, such as Twitt...

Eventually they will have to admit they were wrong

but you technically wouldn't be here if bitcoin didnt exist .

I wonder, @Linda is there a recording of the journalism event from this summer? You did an amazing job of presenting nostr with no dependence at all on bitcoin. I don’t even recall it being mentioned, and I your client Nos.social basically doesn’t incorporate Bitcoin into the UI at all, if I’m not mistaken?

Maybe, but people have worked on web of trust for over 30 years. That's what nostr is. It may use taproot cryptography, but that's where the similarity ends. I think I need to write more about nostr without using the b word.

It is all good but true decentralization lies running nodes at home/office and not at centralized cloud centers. Even most hosting companies use those cloud servers, they don't even host their own servers at their own building. Everybody is missing that crucial point.

I'm a bitcoin skeptic, but I'm on #nostr. The protocol has value in itself. For this reason, we should see the #nostr protocol as distinct from bitcoin. Namely, #nostr is just relays and clients, and the relationship with other things (like bitcoin or anything else) is a mere complement. That's why I think it's important to promote diverse content that isn't related to bitcoin. It's a good thing for #nostr to have people who are skeptical about bitcoin.

@Lyn Alden This is a good text, but it lacks some interesting details. For example, what is the advantage of #nostr over #atprotocol? Many principles are similar between these two protocols, but #atprotocol is gaining more traction despite being a much more complex protocol. So we also need to think about the advantages of #nostr and how it can gain more traction and support from the general public (who don't care about bitcoin or technicalities).

This is a non-bitcoin intro to Nostr. I’m curious if this is what you are seeking or if you had something else in mind. Also curious to hear feedback from people who know nothing about Nostr.

Nostr: User-led social media - Nos: The Human Network

Thanks for the shoutout! I haven’t posted the video anywhere yet - needs a bit of editing. I did write this for the nos website which talks about Nostr and makes no mention of Bitcoin. Curious if you think it has the same impact?

Nostr: User-led social media - Nos: The Human Network

Would love to rewatch it sometime ☺️ I think this writeup does a great job of articulating the “form and function” of nostr as a communication protocol, and some of the ways it’s different from other attempts at decentralized social media. One thing that felt like it was missing was the use of public-private key cryptography — even though it’s on the technical side, I think it’s also the reason that one’s autonomy is as strong as it is on Nostr. It’s a shift from the permissioned “account” model where you “sign up” somewhere, to where instead you have *your own* mathematically-derived access credentials. And the protocol respects that math, regardless of what an individual client or relay wants to do. It’s really powerful, and (at least for me) that was part of the lightbulb moment around Nostr’s unique value offer. Your article hints at this with the side by side screenshot of different clients, btw. It also ties into the “other stuff”, beyond what people usually think of around social media (short form text + images and replies). Streaming (you mention), blogging, recipes, wiki-freedia, highlighter, podcasting, the list goes on. I view Nostr as a revolution in digital information and communication, across-the-spectrum, beyond its (very impressive) social media use cases. All of which is to say, a mention of Bitcoin certainly isn’t required in order to convey what makes Nostr so powerful, and so interesting. I still think of it with a sort of “😮🤯🤩” perspective a lot of the time, when looking at everything it’s capable of.

Sure, but I only want to have one conversation at a time, and if we’re talking about Nostr, then Bitcoin is a huge distraction if they’re a skeptic.

Decentralization is a singular concept. If you can appeal to the need for nostr, then there is no leap to understand Bitcoin is thoroughly related.

Hey Linda ✌️ I’ve been meaning to ask you - are there any of those awesome black & dark-orange NOS t-shirts from the nostr/journalism still kicking around? (In a men’s medium? Lol) It’s become one of my favorite shirts, but as such it’s already starting to get a bit worn out 💜 I’d love to send you some sats for ma couple of them, if they’re still available!