Nostr is a new internet not just a Twitter killer

Olive Grove Eggs are not the only ones who joined Nostr because it was pitched as a Twitter-killer. Nostr social media apps definitely knock Elon and Mark's censored cesspolls into a cocked hat. In my view, however, Nostr's reputation as social media done right doesn't do justice to Nostr's main functionality. It is the backbone of a new internet,one that is open and free to use, with user privacy built in.

I would take it one stage further, to be honest, based on my own experience. The emphasis on social media is hindering Nostr adoption. That will be a tragedy, if it continues, because Nostr can literally give us back the internet that Tim Berners Lee gave us, the internet that has since been corrupted and hijacked on our watch.

I am setting up a website for an upcoming free-range egg business. To get my message out there, I need to be on social media to complement what I post on my site. Thank goodness I found Nostr. It is so easy-going compared to others I have been on in the distant past.

The main downside of Nostr, however, is that hardly anybody has heard of it. It is very niche. I seem to find these projects periodically, though, so I am not worried about being early. I do not need to talk to the whole world. But eventually, I would like to have contact with a few thousand, maybe, who find value in what I am going to offer. And most of those people will not be Bitcoiners at the start. They will by the time they have spent any time around my business, I hope, but initially, many will not know what a key pair is, let alone a NIP-05 or event signer. Event Singer, maybe, signer, not. If I assume my customers can just about download an app, then any Nostr-pilling is likely to succeed.

So I started grappling with how to invite potential readers and egg customers to try out Nostr.

My conclusion is that it is super easy to start on social media and sign in to Nostr in three moves - literally give a false name and press Go! But once signed in, potential problems soon start to mount up for newcomers.

Once signed in, you are presented with a bunch of posts from random Nostr accounts. They may or may not be suitable for work. They may not make a good first impression and reflect my experience, which has been nothing but positive.

To guide the person to a comfortable feed, I'd suggest,

“Once you are signed in, try find the Olive Grove Eggs feed on Nostr. You just copy and paste this mental long wtf npub key into the search bar and our account will pop up”

"What?" they ask. "No username?"

"Npub is the username."

That's the cue for Mrs Jones to pop off and do something else, never to return.

There is no point getting defensive. Compared to the mainstream use @PeterXYZ, the cryptographic string of numbers and letters that comprise an npub is a massive first hurdle. I can't think of a better way to deflate a normie FB user who thought they were signing up for 'social media done right'. Get me right out of here, more like.

So I tried to be stoic and find the most dumbed down instructions. I think I found them, but, still, reading them through the eyes of my old mother, it felt like a destined fail.

It appears I had a similar light bulb moment to Rabble, Instigator at Nos.Social a social media app. He shared his experience demonstrating a few non-social media Nostr apps with Bitcoin skeptics. After my trip through Nostr apps on https://nostr.net/ I realised that social media apps may not be the best gateway drug into Nostr. In fact, seeing many diverse (name your)-killer apps on Nostr inspired me to see the whole Nostrverse in a new light.

Nostr is not just social media. Nostr is a new internet. When more developers learn how fast they can build their dream applications on Nostr, there will be no limits to what a user will be able to do safely, quickly and with infinite ease. Not just Twitter-killer, Nostr will become known as everything-killer.

My community peeps will come because I let them know about the wide range of apps I use, which they may want to use too. And if I can use them, so can anyone. The first time they come, with no tech knowledge, they can simply surf from one Nostr website to another, one Nostr photo gallery app to a Nostr form-building app, without having to sign in. Just seeing the homepage of a Pinstr on Nostr is pretty cool in itself. Spin through a few more websites with functions like maps, or long-form blogging. The sites do a good enough job of selling themselves without visitors having to work out the underlying nitty gritty of the Nostr protocol first.

After seeing a wide range of apps, Mrs Jones from FaceBook is much more likely to be enthusiastic and, in my view, much more receptive and open to the idea of learning some new concepts needed to access Nostr.

While enthused, it is a good time to hear again that ,by default, this new Nostr internet comes with no tracking as standard. There are no ads. On the social media apps there is complete user freedom of speech, free from centralised moderators like Musk. Everyone is treated like a grown up. You take charge of whose feed you see.

That is the time to introduce the novice to Nostr technicals! Sign in with a false name and a click. Explain how and why they should secure their key pair. And set up an Event signer, Nostr Address and a lightning wallet.

Your account will always be there waiting for you when you sign in. This is down to a key pairing that is cryptographically created and stored in a secure browser-based widget.

Talking to a technophobe out of context, even the simplest of concepts can sound science fiction. But to enjoy the benefits, newcomers will need to take a few steps they never had to do before. Key pairs and event signers do take some explanation, but we don't need to programme them, just install and follow instructions - ONCE.

To be clear, I am not dissing the Twitter-killer apps, at all. For the most part they are brilliant, but as a Trojan horse, no. Think about it, social media is becoming poison, because of how they do it on the other side, on the other internet, the world wide web of increasing suckiness. I genuinely did avoid social media like the plague, but now I hear myself saying,

“Nostr does social media right, honest, mate.”

But a perfect social media app is not an easy sell when Elon Musk is dropping f-bombs all over the world's media and antagonising UK police forces from his iPhone, or whatever he uses. There's a time and a place, Elon!

However what does ring truer and sweeter is,

“Nostr does Pinterest and form-building right.”

That's more credible, more digestible, more interesting, less intimidating, no?

Inspired with a new sense of direction, I set up a page on my site yesterday, my attempt to woo newcomers with a selection of non-social media Nostr apps. It felt so much better writing it all up.

Olive Grove Egg's Nostr roadmap

The future plan is to integrate all my website and communication and payments system into Nostr. I will be starting with my website, which is currently on Ghost. It is pretty damn good newsletter platform, and if it were to be ported as a Nostr app via npub.pro, I will be in business.

From that foundation I can really consolidate the business side of things with billing and (zap and fiat) payment options on the same page, so to speak. And if I can introduce my clients to Nostr via the non-social media route, I am sure they will be receptive to installing a Nostr Twitter-killer app, so I can DM them their delivery reminders without Whatsapp.

I will have a suite of business website tools with all the privacy and cryptography built in, but all inter-connected and always online. Uptime - How Nostr's decentralised servers keep all content available for always, sounds like another epic tale for another day.

Exciting times. Re-reading my opening pitches to persuade Mrs Jones on FB to join Nostr social media now sound faintly ridiculous in comparison to the new approach. Copy-paste an npub so I can find you? Yeah right. Where's my FaceBook gone?

Nostr, the protocol for a new internet has got my vote.

Any thoughts or comments or spots of horrendous mis-characterisations of what Nostr can do, let me know in comments or the Contact Form

My nPub is ... (on the contact form!)