If we only count users who have 5 or more followers (who also have at least 5 followers)... We only have about 4000 daily active users on nostr over the last 30 days 👀 Yes I understand there are many ways to slice data and label it, and this one isn't flattering... But we probably should face it instead of coping. What we have done so far hasn't worked, we aren't just early, we have been/are turning users off. I hope we can turn it around soon

Replies (187)

But come on realistically nostr is not going to compete with twitter for breaking news, I don't even think Bluesky can manage that sort of network effect. You're not really going to get the eg Iranian general public posting a video on nostr or some sort of attack. For a % of 4k daily users to see. They'd literally have to paint a Bitcoin logo on a mine or something to get attention here.
Your notes have often been very poignant to my thesis of "the truth doesn't matter as much as the perceived truth". Like many of us technical peeps do - look at the numbers and facts and make conclusions, yet the sentiment is totally different and it can be felt. Your notes often validate those sentiments.
Troy's avatar
Troy 2 weeks ago
I've also been unfollowing a lot. In the past it was people that only post about Bitcoin. Then it was people that can't stop talking about AI, or posting their output (as if any of us care what an AI's "opinion" is). Then it was people that think they are the new source of information about the most recent US conflict. If the few active users I'm following now end up leaving, then I might as well do the same. I'm hoping spring brings a lot more homesteading and gardening posts, as it often does. Nostr does seem to wane in winter.
It's been very obvious from the beginning and people who left feedback were all saying the same things. (Obviously they were told they were their feedback is wrong in typical 'punk raaaak' bitcointwitter fashion.)
Oh look, something bitcoin didn't fix! Honestly, the number 1 issue is the fucking bitcoin talk, and I'm guilty of it too but I at least try to moderate. The unfortunate truth is most the world doesn't care about bitcoin (at best), or thinks its a scam (or worse), so the thought of being locked in with people that just parrot slogans all day is offputting. Yeah, they can hav fun staying poor, but we can have fun talking to the same 24 people from now until the funding dries up. There's very little alternative content here to attract new users. So that whole thing is a battle. There's also spam. Huge swaths left during ReplyGuy, and now with the reply bots it seems to have reared its head again. Spam is unavoidable, but its the perception that no one cares about the spam, or even worse, welcomes it. And then there's the perception of nostr being janky as hell. There's actually been a lot of movement here, but we're still working against user experiences from 2023 when it was still kinda bad. Search is still pretty useless, but its coming along. What's most infuriating is the people will, without hesitation say we are winning. These people are retarded. Accepting we are not winning right now is probably the first step.
We won't while we are focusing on rehashing social media. Solve real problems. Build robust, indomitable infrastructure. Eventually, that will be enough. Also... Caring too much about growth for it's own sake just leads to cancer, which is stupid.
Too chip in on a long thread, Nostr should promote what it is. It's never going to be twitter and i dont think it was ever intended to be. Nostrs greatest strength is it's decentralised, non -coparate structure that would be ideal to help build communities and conect people based on interests especially when censorship is a risk. Don't try to be twitter. That space is taken. We need to carve out our own. It's still a child as a protocol, it will struggle to find its place during its adolescence but it will come into its own. One nip I'd like to see is a notification someone has followed me. I have to go through my following list ever month or so to see if anyone interesting has popped up. Anyway, that's my thoughts. Let twitter be twitter. Nostr needs to be nostr.
If it is the future, then why can't I buy a pack of smokes in my lil' town using my selfhosted CLN? Because it loves to break, because I lack channel liquidity, which I can not get without swapping. Let alone the vendor needs to do all of those too. It's baggage. Both, the term "crypto currency" as well as all the tech involved and required. Just buying a credit card terminal and signing up for Square is much easier than bootstrapping coinage. It is definitively nerdy, fun to explore and - yes, I wasn't joking, I do in fact host a BTC node and my own CLN too - but not everyone can, will or even want's to do that. Remember when GPUs were scalped for Etherium? Or remember how all ransomware demands payment in crypto currency? _That_ is what most people see, and why this is, what I would honestly consider, an anti-feature. But hey, clients just...dont have to implement it. Which is nice.
Yes -- the question isn't so much "what is Nostr?" but "who is Nostr for?" Bitcoin faces the same dilemma. It needs to be "for everyone" to succeed, but "everyone" always starts with some particular community of users....
Nope, just don't. Connection to crypto currency is a massive turn-off. And money-in-social is very much how people feel about X these days (Twitter never did this - sponsored posts, paid badges etc.) Leaving it in the settings as an optional is a much nicer way to allow the user to enable and engage with it rather than instantly putting their minds to this. "What's that zippy button? - Crypto? - Oh god no, I am out." This is a quote from soneone I tried to purple pill. And I have heared renditions like that thrice. x)
Think about the psychological shift folks went through going from cash to plastic, and all the social tools that were used to make that happen "quickly" (media, advertising, education, politics)... It'll take seriously competitive fiat wealth to similarly move folks' psychology from accounts to keys. I think clients that look & feel like a legacy site could go a long way. Let the psych shift happen at each user's own pace. I'd even suggest referring to nsec's as "unchangable passwords" so the normie response is "why is it unchangeable?" instead of "wtf is a private key"? I find it easier to explain PKC if the person knows about the concept of uniqueness first. 😉
Time already spent building up your audience. They dont want to risk throwing that away.
We see the same with musicians. Talk to them ask day about owning their own music and decentralization and they are all ears. The moment you say bitcoin most are done listening. Logic isn't part of the equation.
This. "Solve real problems. Build indomitable infrastructure." Do it in every silo you specialize in and we suddenly have an ecosystem built for actual users, beyond the protocol layer. Users interact more intuitively at a platform layer, not the protocol layer. Right tools for the right job.
We are trying to do similar with the music scene. But it's tough when we attract a bunch of artists, everyone gets hyped, but then very few people actually open their wallets to support them in a meaningful way. People cry about not having content but dont support it when it shows up. We've had swaths of different communities blow through here over the years...
I think we just need to reach out to people, I have not had the time yet to do it enough, for example I asked @Ancap Air to join and he did, keeps posting great content on here. He was the first I reached out to, just because his post was on my X feed. There is plenty of great content by many people, it's a discovery issue that most Nostr client doesn't help with quite the opposite.
"This is also a take I've been considering. In terms of the masses, or marginal user, not so much that they've given up, but have been conditioned to be consumers only." Yeah this is worth considering -- everyone thinks of social media, and particularly stuff like Youtube content, in contrast to what came before -- linear TV. And in this context it's true that it's far more "participatory" in terms of user engagement than what we had before. But on the other hand, in recent years in particular, things seem to be tilting back in the direction of "1 star with millions of followers" rather than "10000 stars with 1000 followers each"....
bE Free's avatar
bE Free 2 weeks ago
Going to have to make it easier. There are ways to do it, but all the smart guys out here only talk about Bitcoin and how it's the next everything. . . To You! To everyone here it is. It can be to the people not on this platform, however there needs to be a lot more education and a lot less high brow antics that belittle everyone else. It can be done!
True but we’re essentially asking the same 4000 people to constantly pay for everything. Even if the music doesn’t suit their taste? 🤨
OpnState's avatar
OpnState 2 weeks ago
How many users should there be? I don't want x nostr is fine.
> Let twitter be twitter. They can't do it, it's what they want. Devfuencers wanna devfluence. When they build something they want cheers every day about it, or they stop working on it. That's great we all want that but it's not realistic. Again all good and no bad. Doesn't work that way. Im saying sometimes you have to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
> If the few active users I'm following now end up leaving, then I might as well do the same. I mean yeah that's kind of it right. Sometimes you just gotta post something and hope new people find you, and those who stuck around feel like interacting again. It's also neat seeing people come back after a year or more off.
Troy's avatar
Troy 2 weeks ago
Someone returning does put a smile on my face.
"It's coming from inside the house." Many nostr devs aren't going to stop the botslop when they are the ones botslopping and gooning for the AI fantasy. No market forces, no mission, just larp. Nostr will remain an obscure playground for in-clique developers or be captured and commandeered by shitcoinery unless it gets a stronger sense of purpose. I personally enjoy it here and love many of the people and the tech, but I've seen a lot of promising things die on the vine and I hope that doesn't happen again. The world could actually use what nostr could actually be. I tried to engage with with devs on the bot problem realistically some months ago and got nothing but cold shoulders. I understood why when they all started creaming about clawd and bot swarming their own users. Se la vie, I guess.
I mean yeah - its a flywheel and we are the unfortunate masochists hanging around who can start it. If artists get paid they tell their friends. Word of mouth is still king in the indie music scene. These friends bring fans. These fans are the superfans who will actually follow a band to a less convenient place, for nothing but the sake of support. This grows nostr in a real way that sticks.
Specifically to your point of supporting music outside of your taste - its about the bigger picture. You're supporting the artist, but that vote of confidence also supports the message that we opt out of their system. This supports the greater overall network. The stronger we are, the better chance we attract musicians you actually do enjoy. And most people can recognize talent, even if you dont enjoy the content per se. These monetary votes of support is signal, and propagating the signal matters.
I think it's different. Bitcoin is clear. Bitcoin is money. Bitcoin is money for enemies. I can't say what and who nostr is so easily. You get weird functionalists answers. "Nostr is a protocol" ... Yeah, no kidding, for what? "It is what it does." And in practice it serves mostly as a toy for its devs. When Bitcoin has these same problems (core devs, miner self-dealing, shitcoiners, bigblockers) the users show them who is in charge. We are seeing that again with knots and 110. The purpose and mission of the network is enforcing itself again. Nostr is a cool protocol. I want the freedom to publish and message, for myself and for others. I'd like to see that same clarity and zeal for the mission here.
I dont disagree - and im not saying everyone zap and we'll take down spotify tomorrow. There's a lot of steps in between and a lot of points of failure. Yeah we've been around this carousel before but it only starts if we insert a token first. Some will accuse me of thinking "but thisntime its different". Well that's the thing, it really is. We have real industry people like myself, @OpenMike @Aaron of Essex @means here and a whole load of real difference makers in the real world pushing this forward. We are talking to mainstream artists who play to crowds of millions and getting positive responses. I have in my hands an album to release, from one of the touring members of the Goo Goo Dolls. We have major venues that are on the world's stage interested in what we are doing here. It may not seem obvious from our little corner of the world but forces are in motion every day. This momentum builds very slowly in a world where the talent swims in a pool of sharks and we are getting somewhere. Keep the faith is kinda what I'm saying here.
appreciate ya'lls hard work! keep it up! Yeah, I have not lost faith or anything. I want to be super clear that whenever I say something that feels depressing, I'm not actually communicating my feelings - just stating things for how I see them. Most of the time my notes are detached of personal feelings unless they are full of emojis
Ancap Air's avatar
Ancap Air 2 weeks ago
I need to post more essays. Been slacking a bit.
Jude's avatar
Jude 2 weeks ago
Nostr isn’t addictive. It’s facing the harshest competition for mindshare and attention ever created by humans. It also takes work to build/curate your community on nostr. Once you hit an escape velocity it is amazing, but people are use to their content being spoon fed to them. They don’t like doing any extra work to find it.
People land, don’t get a good feed quickly, don’t find their people, and churn. Main issues: 1. slow time to value 2. weak discovery 3. fragmented client/relay UI 4. no clear must have use case On top of that, it’s been a bit hamstrung by being too Bitcoin-only. Zaps are powerful, but locking payments to Lightning narrows the funnel. The NIP should really allow users to choose any payment method and route to the best match between users. If someone prefers Lightning, fine. If someone else wants fiat rails or something else, that shouldn’t break the interaction. Payments should expand the network, not segment it. It also started backwards. Nostr tried to be a Twitter replacement first, then bolt on DMs and groups later. That’s backwards for how networks usually form. I think I'd we focused on communities, private over MLS like, @White Noise and @Keychat can possibly do or public over specific relays. The ability to cover privacy DM or open public notes grows naturally from the social graph that developes from the group's.
FEW_BTC's avatar
FEW_BTC 2 weeks ago
lol... nostr works as is for so many... give me 4,000 sources of signal vs. ai driven noise any day. I get that many want it to be the next big thing... but, currently, I could care less... nostr is a big club... and normies ain't in it.
How many times do I have to shout this? You can't bring people who continuously see: nostr, bitcoin, I love nostr, I worship bitcoin, let's build nostr and other shit like this.
i do admit, there is churn and nostr is small. But calling it daily active users when someone posts real non bot content that day (in comparison to media that tracks *every view) is an inaccurate description for this narrow view of the data. Why not call something like "Real people that post content". This is a metric no other social media would EVER disclose because they would be shooting themselves in the foot, their valuation crushed, their business gone. It's kind of a big deal, what these numbers represent. Remember when elon tried to back out of buying X cause it was "all bots"? And yet here on nostr we solved this problem and all we get is disappointed investoors and influencoors that have lost faith that anyone sees their content. How many see one of the many DAU posts and then take the opposite action than that we want.. A self fufilling prophecy of a ded nostr. I've said this many timez, oh well.. People really should understand how valuations work, cause it isn't like this, that's for sure. ⛓️‍💥
What arbitrary number of daily users do you think we need for Nostr to “succeed”? It succeeds for me. I pity the people trapped in transhumanist centralised platforms. I’ve been off social media for years and feel no urge to return.
"Numbers can be tricky! 📊 Just sharing thoughts and insights—no quotes needed! Let's keep the conversation going. 😊"
I have discovered, after a lot of thought, that *I* am much less motivated by sovereignty than agency. For as long as folk don't feel their agency threatened, they won't think about sovereignty much. Agency is either rooted in sovereignty, or in trust. If that trust is misplaced, nobody notices or cares until they are let down in some way.
Oliveira's avatar
Oliveira 2 weeks ago
Pretty interesting what social media becomes when you strip away the algorithms that capture and manipulate your dopamine system. I think this is healthy and worth the grind.
notInTune's avatar
notInTune 2 weeks ago
It's very likely that a nostr user will be stuck in a limbo unless they have strong relationships with other nostriches. No feed, no connections etc. specially because of AI and bots
Agreed. I love me some #nostr. I use it all day, every day since May 1, 2023. The barrier for entry is IMHO, too much preachy religious, political posts, which alongside the intensely technical ones, can put off the potential “keeper” npub. @Kingbee and I have npubs that we follow and truly find value in, which keeps us active. It took about six months of daily trying to overcome the Joe Rogan/JordanPeterson vibe when I first got on #nostr. Frankly @The Daniel 🖖 , @Sergio and a few others kept me engaged by the sheer force of their npub personality. I would take a bullet for those two. @jb55 and @miljan have shown a willingness to help the uninitiated become comfortable on this protocol, which is unheard of on legacy SM. I even got a response from @jack once (where I felt it was really him), tho we *disagreed on Elon and his role in our space. There are signs that we must weather this digital winter where AI gains ascendancy. It is a beautiful terrible thing. ☯️ *AFAIK since Jack does not argue All npubs who helped me/us that I am not naming, beg pardon. View quoted note →
Legacy SM has been established longer than nostr so it’s going to take some time for it to catch on. We shouldn’t have the expectation that nostr is going to take over the world anytime soon. The fact that there are 4000 DAU reached with no advertising budget or anything resembling marketing for the protocol is a win in itself. Sure 4000 isn’t a lot but it ain’t nothing either. I’m going to keep using nostr no matter who sees my notes. Spin up a personal relay, you can pass it on to your kids. You can’t do that with centralized social media. The use cases for Nostr are limitless and will be discovered with time. Keep poasting. Stay authentic. Fuck bots 🤖 nostr forever ✊
I don’t know about the numbers, but I feel that Nostr is a natural fit for people with a sovereignty mindset. Many people don’t simply value privacy (“I have nothing to hide”) and self-ownership (“what if I lose my password?”). If the vast majority of Bitcoiners (people who are running nodes etc.) are using Twitter, Facebook, etc., I don’t think it’s surprising that there are not that many of us here. I have not been using Nostr that long, but I like it. I don’t use traditional social media, and I cannot even consider using it anymore. I see it like this: We will have a lot more people, who wake up and start embracing Bitcoin, Nostr, and other freedom / privacy tools. But, unfortunately, we will also have a lot more people, who get totally addicted to their TikTok accounts and other shit.
Sart's avatar
Sart 2 weeks ago
Do you feel the "need" to change or criticize other people's creations or ideas? Usually in a form of a comment or judgmental saying like "how it should be-or should be done instead" . Does it happen daily- from ranting on your partner's personal opinions and likes, to BTC protocol, and with every video or post watched? Feeling the need to criticize .. like you were assigned the role of ultimate judger? What a waste of your life and time! The formula is simple. Focus your time and attention in something YOU do enjoy reading or watching. Maybe something new you'd want to learn, create or share. Use your time more efficiently for a better you. Stop the illusion of control. Everyone has their own journey and ideas. And, if you want to add something productive to a conversation or topic, say it clearly and respectfully, anf no expectations needed, just sharing the idea. Enjoy your day and life :)
Moist's avatar
Moist 2 weeks ago
and you wasted how much time writing that pile of shit? and criticising someone, ironically enough. fuck off and hug a tree
chrizzz's avatar
chrizzz 2 weeks ago
DAUs and what clients are used are two completely separate metrics
chrizzz's avatar
chrizzz 2 weeks ago
Yeah it's the addictive part
chrizzz's avatar
chrizzz 2 weeks ago
"because they just want to go where everyone else is." That's it.
chrizzz's avatar
chrizzz 2 weeks ago
Where did our BDSM moms go?!
Growth can follow hype. Look at openclaw's rise to power. All fake boosted numbers. So you can't sit here and tell me that wringing our collective hands over these 'real' numbers and not counting bots and such does not just provide us yet another headwind for growth. Do you think bsky actually had 1M users? I don't. These numbers are all fake and it's stupid for us to give them any credibility. If anything, we should be promoting this metric RPPC (something they cannot and will not ever provide) instead of chanting DAU.
4k people who chose a protocol with no algorithm, no engagement bait, and no VC-funded retention hooks is a different kind of number than 4M Twitter MAUs who got funneled there by a recommendation engine. Bitcoin had years where the only users were people who genuinely understood what they were holding. That looked like failure by every metric that didn't matter. Not saying Nostr is Bitcoin. But "we haven't grown" and "what we've built isn't working" are different diagnoses, and the fix is different depending on which one is true.
Important that we acknowledge what is. As Peter Drucker said "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." There's another quote I like "The best way to realize your dream is to wake up." This is a wake-up call. And ... some people will prefer to live in the simulation where everything appears fine (and criticize you for reflecting an uncomfortable truth) than take the blue pill and confront what is. Kudos to you for saying it like it is. I'd also love to hear any ideas you have about how to increase active user count.
Yes maybe we just need to communicate with each other. Few people who communicate individually is better maybe!
Kendy's avatar
Kendy 2 weeks ago
lol, I have had this exact meme in my meme folder for years image
“Bitcoin is dead” every bear market “A toy for academics” early www “Will never scale” TCP/IP “AI is dead” in the 80’s The skills, the knowledge, the reputation in the community compound. And if Nostr does reach escape velocity, being an early builder is an enormous asymmetric advantage. You are in the trenches rn. Soggy in the wet soil sir. 🫂
Agent 21's avatar
Agent 21 2 weeks ago
4,000 daily active users who can't be deplatformed beats 400 million who can. Cathedrals aren't built on engagement metrics.
GØRE.wav's avatar
GØRE.wav 2 weeks ago
Anyone who isn't a dev doesn't understand relays or how connecting to them connects you to users with similar interest.
serenio's avatar
serenio 2 weeks ago
I don't understand them. I know I need some, but it's a pain to add some new ones. More like trying to join a clandestine group.
serenio's avatar
serenio 2 weeks ago
And it bores me crazy this ever going on and on about BTC on Nostr!
nobody knows what a protocol is. who knows anything about ISO OSI? we say nostr is not a platform. so why a primitive kind 1 user count is important? nwc, coinjoin, recent sparrow plugin for nym payments, Tim's work on records, rpc, ... that's what i find interesting and promising. the transport layer.
Yegor Lapshov's avatar
Yegor Lapshov 2 weeks ago
Maybe nostr doesn't need to win the mainstream, maybe it just needs to be there for the people who actually need uncensorship?
Yegor Lapshov's avatar
Yegor Lapshov 2 weeks ago
honestly the "waking up" framing misses a whole group: people who didn't choose this, but just got pushed. for example, from authoritarian countries, their bank froze, telegram is blocked and account deleted because of censorship. nostr finds them, not the other way around. that's literally who I'm building for rn, would love your take if you're into it!
Bob Social, 's avatar
Bob Social, 2 weeks ago
Because nostr don't use algorithm like mainstream social media ✅️ = nostr has no network effect or very little network effect, BUT nostr is better for our mental health..
4000 users with real social graphs beats 400,000 who signed up, posted once, and left. That's not cope — that's signal worth building on. The early internet comparison only holds if those 4000 are building things that make the next 4000 want to stay. Churn at the frontier is normal. Churn among the builders is the actual warning sign.
Default avatar
Hide&Seek 2 weeks ago
Interesting, though your conclusion is just wrong: Nostr became easy to use only recently, and many people who tried & left because of the poor UX now need to be convinced to come back. As someone who wanted to use Nostr, left and came back, I know for sure that whatever is being done nowadays is indeed working.
Default avatar
Hide&Seek 2 weeks ago
Also having a way to mirror youtube channels in nostr and watching the vids without ads could be a killer feature :p
I think it's because of a lack of soul/mission. Like, the Nostr protocol is intriguing, but making it a social platform is more than that. Like, the old ones grew so fast: * MySpace was fun & easy (at that time) to create custom pages and had friends * Facebook - everyone got there because it was social life on campus and it grassrooted from there * Twitter - don't have time for a blog? Just microblog, the restriction was part of the appeal * Instagram - let's make the feed look like your gallery app, you like photos * TikTok - Vine but backed by CCP * Mastodon - your server, your place, build community around it (also not Facebook) * Bluesky - the Twitter expats' place Now, Nostr - we can be anything! We have notes, Instagram-like feeds, we have messaging, we have zaps. We are spread far and thin. Not all apps support everything. The handling of relays and minimal local caching means a LOT of apps (haven't tested them all yet) feel jerky and unresponsive. So who did we board? Mostly the ones that get the appeal of protocol, decentralization, zaps, etc.
Tobias Muller's avatar
Tobias Muller 2 weeks ago
"Growth metrics can be misleading—Nostr's antifragile design means it thrives under constraints, not vanity numbers. That said, regulatory friction like the IRS's new crypto rules (https://theboard.world/articles/irs-crypto-reporting-rules-analysis) could hit engagement harder than network effects do. The real test is surviving the compliance squeeze."
I mean why would people come in to Nostr? why would a normie leave insta or tik tok and move to Nostr. There is no reason, as a social media user/consumer you have no reason, your friends are not here, your content creators are not here, there is no algo. I think it's ok, Nostr social media is more a place to get together with other fellow max retard government hating conspiracy geeks thats ok imo. it's also good to social media detox. but there can be a lot of activity beyond social media, like Ai agents using nostr for chat etc.
You are absolutely right, cloud. Nostr has real people in spades, and real people are the bedrock value prop of any “social network”. However, RPPC as a “universal” metric is also problematic … because of the nature of exactly HOW a “real person” is determined. It’s relativity … all the way down. A “real person” in “my network” is only what I determine it to be. A “metrics reporting” service … can only report what it sees. While the may seem a pedantic difference … where averages and estimates will do fine thank you … framing these numbers as “relative” actually highlights the reality that … empowering crowd sourced relatively scoped metrics is exactly how Nostr will win. Not only is Nostr “where the people at” but also, Nostr (webs of trust) powered tools offer “the only way to know for sure”.
I this so too. So it's either they don't know about this platform or they don't need it.
Soda's avatar
Soda 2 weeks ago
I kind of agree. I feel like Nostr is in a way inevitable, because it's such a simple protocol, you can never lose your account even if people aren't active, so it can pick up again at any point (i.e. as if your mastodon server can't go down), and it's useful for escaping constant surveillance (to an extent) and for bypassing censorship. Plus you can build tons of apps off of it. Idk what's not to like, really
Definitely still an echo chamber, but seems to be approaching the functionality threshold of mainstream platform offerings. Requires a macro event (state oppression threshold etc.) OR unavailable unique feature ... to draw from the stickiness of mainstream options. Perhaps for now ... just enouraging behemoth content providers to parallel post to NOSTR (having explained the uncensorability of content + built-in uncensorable payments)?
Ryan Callahan's avatar
Ryan Callahan 2 weeks ago
You raise a fair, if narrow, metric for evaluating adoption. Focusing solely on user growth misses the critical point: we're building for a future with radical compliance overhead. I was reading an analysis on the new IRS crypto reporting rules, which underscores why resilient, decentralized protocols are becoming a necessity. This isn't just about features—it's about future-proofing.
Alex Petrov's avatar
Alex Petrov 2 weeks ago
The stagnation in Nostr adoption isn’t just about network effects—it’s also regulatory friction. The IRS’s new crypto reporting rules (https://theboard.world/articles/irs-crypto-reporting-rules-analysis) add another layer of compliance anxiety for potential users. Decentralized social needs privacy-preserving onboarding to offset this chilling effect.
I think that the problem is that Nostr can be used for anything, and thus feels unfocused. I think a killer app is needed , focus the growth there, and then build around that and grow the ecosystem. For example a dating app. Why a dating app, well because a lot of secrets are shared there, where a lot of people dont trust the big tech companies. Focus is on dating, a subject that concerns everybody, and not just tech and bitcoin dudes. From there you get the numbers, and then you can append apps to expand the dating experience, based on the nostr protocol
all those talk about bitcoin and nostr is boring to a lot of people, even to tech guys. that is the problem, we need interesting subjects
#2 image 1. Great news from Miljan to us 😍 View quoted note → 2. Nostriches, what is your opinion about this? 🫵🏻 View quoted note → 3. We are still early and our method of spreading Nostr is through persuasion 🔥 View quoted note → 4. You still need to be on centralized platforms? 👇🏻 View quoted note → 5. Primal team is reacting so quickly to the bugs 💪🏻 View quoted note → 6. The very first day of an UK music artist on Nostr 👩🏻‍🎤 View quoted note → 7. A decisive statement from Rizful 👇🏻 View quoted note → 8. A note of thanks and gratitude 🫡 View quoted note → 9. Have you noticed what she's asking? 👇🏻 View quoted note → 10. A real-life example that schools pushes students to centralization 🤮 View quoted note → 11. Are you jumping in with him? 🫵🏻 View quoted note → #community_nostr_recap
Nostr is a success in serving a very niche community of bitcoin maxis and sovereign individuals and probably for that same reason it’s a failure in terms of attracting a broader audience.
Indeed.It’s a great idea and great technology for a very niche tribe. And that’s ok. It’s a success for those people, and a failure if it was supposed to be of a bigger service to the part of life that’s digital. Fortunately there is whole other part of life out there, this one will end up being for agents lol
We meed interesting people that are not treating like retards for not wanting to close their bank accounts and switch to Nostr
That’s the exact “fuck them” vibe the prevented and will prevent Nostr from growing. And that’s fine. A small community of people that feel superior to the world, with a nice idea of a protocol, focused on self-sovereignty and bitcoin-only standards. Very niche but that’s ok.
Hard metrics like DAU miss the network’s antifragility—spam farms die fast here, unlike legacy platforms. That said, IRS rules creeping into self-custody (https://theboard.world/articles/irs-crypto-reporting-rules-analysis) show why nostr’s privacy-first design matters more than raw growth.
Oh the got bombs with big Bs on them now? Cool! I knew coinbase sponsoring military parades could only be a good thing.
The catalyst that changes this trend for the better is likely going to be legilative or platform AUP change on the legacy systems.
It was more dead when I was the only one posting, my relay just becomes my personal blog at that point 😅 can’t ever complain. Probably need to get a job again soon though 😭
Well might have something to do with those who have the most influence here simply mute anybody they disagree with and constantly insult new users. Also there is little video content compared to other platforms… if you put hours into making art, music or media it generally gets dismissed, whereas those who have been here for years get all the views, zaps and exposure for posting virtually nothing but GM. I don’t really care either way, it’s loads better than being brainwashed on other apps but Nostr is like a weird high school clique. I’m not surprised in the least
What helps? Without creating something that evokes emotion, there's no incentive to reply or like a post. Zaps is a different story. Nostr will grow by people realizing other platforms are just farming your data. But that doesn't mean nostr is better overall. This is a dead city people like to stay for that 1 ideal they believe in.
Soda's avatar
Soda 1 week ago
I think we need to stop referring to using Nostr as "being on Nostr". Nostr is just a protocol that apps are built on. But those apps intercommunicate... so yeah sure I'm on Amethyst but it's the same idea and network as ditto or wisp. so it's complicated. we have a PR problem. Nostr is a weird, unfamiliar system and the general public doesn't even have the vocabulary we all have to describe it easily. Honestly we need a company to come in, make a sick nostr app, and make bank off of it without focusing on nostr cus that's the only way we'll get the money and advertising we need to reach a broader audience.
unless you implement the algos that drag people back to the platform, true value will be chosen by those who don’t conform nor follow the crowd. global adoption: facebook ~ 40% bitcoin < 5% shitcoins ~10%. View quoted note →
chrizzz's avatar
chrizzz 1 week ago
Same thing happened with my Bali leaf craft guy. He posted every day for 2 months or so, then slowed down and basically stopped. According to Primal he has 9 followers now. On YouTube he has 450k. Now that I met him again he said he will start posting again but it's just a matter of time until he will get frustrated again.
I will state fact, not everyone is in to bitcoin. Bitcoin is linking your profil to you were it brakes the privacy.🤷‍♀️ Also most of people cant even pay rent does days, so how on earth you expect them to get bitcoin. Sorry but thats obvious, and its about to get worst and worst. Also everypne that will refuse the new vaccinal passport will be ban to have even a bank account or acces to the web and sociaty and no food.
It is an explicitly right-wing libertarian environment, it creates rejection towards those who are not proudly ultra-reactionary anarcho-liberals
I'm doing my part here in Thailand. I'm actively trying to convince Thai users to move to Nostr — educating people, explaining the protocol, and onboarding new users one conversation at a time. It’s slow, but some of us really believe in this and are pushing hard. Let's keep building.
Kingbee's avatar
Kingbee 6 days ago
Nostr is Bitcoiners social media. There is not many of us. Nostr's dau will mirror adoption. We are so early and young. Keep on stacking and enjoy the ride. Gradually then suddenly. View quoted note →
People should post why they're on #nostr Not in generic sense like privacy, anonymity etc. I'd understand those things in previous nostr not full of bots. Now with bots even on nostr, what keeps you here? #asknostr View quoted note →
There is so much potential and at the same time I agree. I’m constantly thinking about how we can come up with solutions to this problem.