I mean obviously there are a lot of "chicken and egg" issues, and I'm loathe to say "oh no the apps are all 'good enough' " --- but people are staying on XMeta not because those UX's are good. In fact, in many instances, they're crap UX. And the users know it. Ditto is already a way better app than Instagram... cleaner UI, more responsive, easier to navigate, etc. They're staying there because of network effects.

What do you think about my apps in that regard?

Honestly IDK, what have you made? (humble suggestion for creators to put stuff they're most proud of in their NIP-05 profile block 😁 )

VidStr — Nostr Video Client

Upload, watch and share videos on Nostr. NIP-71 video events, Blossom uploads, HLS streaming.

LiveWave

LiveWave — Decentralized Live Activities on Nostr

Discover and join live streams, meeting spaces, and interactive events powered by the Nostr protocol (NIP-53).

Nostr Images

Nostr Images - Decentralized Image Board

Share and discover images on the Nostr network. A decentralized, censorship-resistant image board powered by NIP-68.

Nostr Music

Nostr Music - Decentralized Music Platform

Upload and discover music on Nostr. A decentralized music platform built on the Nostr protocol. No gatekeepers, no censorship—just pure music fre...

NostrDocs - Decentralized Document Sharing

Share and discover documents on the Nostr network. Upload PDFs, spreadsheets, and more - anonymously or with your identity.

PressStr

PressStr — Magazines & Ebooks on Nostr

Discover and publish magazines and ebooks on the decentralized Nostr network. Censorship-resistant publishing via Blossom file hosting.

And many more - they are all on the homepage at

Shakespeare - Open Source AI Builder

Build custom apps with AI assistance using Shakespeare, an open-source development environment

There is a big cultural element outside the UX problems. Of those that have even heard of Nostr, there’s a high percentage think it’s a Nazi bar and a lot of content is about money. That doesn’t chime with a lot of people. Now you could argue it’s not but I’m not hear for that, just echoing what I’ve heard from people on the Fediverse, which like it or not, is full of FOSS/self hosting enthusiasts AND a lot of what folks here would call normies. (Which I find pretty ironic as a lot of people here focus on working hard and raising families I’ve seen like 1 furry and maybe 2 openly gay people in 3 years). If WoT/suggested follows mainly consist of prominent Bitcoin people, that perception is unlikely to change. I can very rarely stomach any suggested feeds here, My interest in money only goes so far, by now I’ve heard all the Bitcoin catch phrases and I still prefer Red Roger’ 3,2,1. That man knew how to drop a catchphrase. I’m not hating. It is what it is.

The conversation is Bitcoin and the suggestions of people to follow are often Bitcoiners because someone had to use the protocol first. If it were furries then we'd be having the same conversation but wondering why people don't flock to the furry network. In the end we need a wide variety of people or at least people of different communities to take a chance on Nostr, otherwise it's just always going to be our niche.