After catching up on the Nostr World sessions and finishing this podcast with Eric Cartell, two things: Rabble is one of the most essential voices if you’re looking to #grownostr, and the reunion on this episode gives me real hope for marginalized and fringe creators.
In a broader scope, Rabble talks about how coder-forward Nostr looks from the outside. As an outsider, I have to agree — it truly does. For those of you who #buildnostr, I’d ask you to consider what made the early internet succeed in the first place: a lot of it came down to the rapport that formed between early online communities.
A wonderful springboard here; and someone who shares Rabble’s timbre and substance: Douglas Rushkoff, the media theorist behind Team Human. There from the start helping usher in early internet culture. Another is Richard Metzger and Disinformation (disinfo.com). These were cyberpunks who set a precedent that alternative culture can still strive toward on Nostr. Like I said, just a springboard, but plenty of folx in their orbit share those ideals and challenge the structures already in place.
Listen to marginalized folx. Listen to people of color. Diversify your staff. I believe all of this can help growth.
For context: I’m not a crypto breaux and I’m not a coder. I keep some sats on hand for zapping and hold light positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a few other chains. To the BTC enthusiasts, unless I fall back down that rabbit hole on my own, I’m not curious about it.
If that sounds like hot air, here’s my vetting: I still remember my second week on Nostr and how much abhorrent language, incel culture, and manosphere behavior I ran into. Some of that’s to be expected. I grew up through the MySpace and Tumblr era as a kid in Louisville, KY. AIM chat rooms were brutal too, and online spaces, queer ones included, could be deeply predatory toward young people. That hasn’t really changed.
If people want to double down on ableist, racist, and homophobic remarks, to each their freedom. I’ll be over here learning the mute functions.
I know about as much code as any kid raised in the aughts. Enough to throw together a quirky HTML site, run some diagnostics, and play in the sandbox with Python. Nostr is nearly a stretch for me.
So consider content-label toggles, the way Divine does it. Offer it right at “create an account,” with options for immediate mute restrictions. That kind of thing could be the warm welcome folx like me are hoping for.
When you step onto a new decentralized platform hoping to start fresh, the bar is low. Use that to your advantage. Jaded generations and younger kids wise enough to keep tech at a distance are both brand personas worth designing for.
I’d love to ideate with anyone building Nostr clients who’s willing to hear from a queer, non-binary, autistic perspective that may be a little different from your usual Bitcoin-Lightning evangelist. If that’s you, I’ll stay open, in mutual respect, for a civilized conversation. Feel free to reach out.