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how do you describe SN to people?
380 sats \ 30 comments \ @unschooled 22 Jul AskSN
i recently tried explaining it to a family member and i lost him at "bitcoin."
that sucks.
some people are quick to recoil at the term. in his case, and although i love him, he's most likely been hypnotized into believing "trump bad, therefore bitcoin bad."
ive been thinking a lot about what i do here, so as a follow up to my question last week and somewhat vis à vis siggys question:
whats your 30 second elevator pitch to people in your everyday lives to explain/describe what you do on sn?
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221 sats \ 6 replies \ @NovaRift 22 Jul
Open source, The only place with a decent user base that doesn't hoot for AI generated content and actually values real human interaction is evident in the number of zaps you receive. It's a pay2post platform where you feel like a user and not a product. There are no algorithms and no annoying advertisements. They genuinely care about your feedback and users share a lot of things on territories (it's like sub reddit which you create by paying and you even earn revenue from it as users interact in your territory) about Bitcoin, economy, Science, AI, Mining, cars and so much.
This is how I discussed about Stacker News on Nostr when a user asked me.
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115 sats \ 1 reply \ @unschooled OP 22 Jul
There are no algorithms
what do you mean by this?
im only asking because ive run into this in conversation and then stumble to explain.
and while i agree empirically (though i admit this is out of my wheelhouse) the math behind the wot is not the same as Instagram's/tiktok's algo, there is an element to it that feels similar.
for example, what ranks highest on sn is based on zaps and comments, but the rewards system incentivizes people to zap and comment what they think others will also zap and comment. in other words it can be gamed, so that actually peoples zapping behaviour is based on what the think others will also zap, because this seems to win them the most rewards.
im not saying i have an issue with this. im just wondering how this can be differentiated in conversation from what is conventionally called an algorithm.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @NovaRift 23 Jul
You got a point. I mean the algorithm is not like that of Reddit and Instagram, which is just to capture your attention all the time by showing old to new posts and even days old posts to grab your attention. Stacker News is way different and great.
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15 sats \ 1 reply \ @plebpoet 22 Jul
that seems more than valid to me, I like it. may i share?
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @NovaRift 23 Jul
Of course! :)
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @LibertasBR 23 Jul
I think this is a great introductory text — with a few small adjustments and a bit of polishing, it would be perfect for presenting to a general audience.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @NovaRift 23 Jul
Thanks
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55 sats \ 7 replies \ @Undisciplined 22 Jul
I relate it to Reddit, but without the censorship.
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42 sats \ 3 replies \ @denlillaapan 22 Jul
"You shitpost for zaps... Like, I write stuff and share links etc, and people just send me small amounts of bitcoin, like... for fun. And there's no moderator or money laundering expert standing in our way."
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18 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 22 Jul
I think that's great...for people who like bitcoin and shitposting. Most people probably find both pretty off-putting though.
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42 sats \ 1 reply \ @denlillaapan 22 Jul
they have no idea what they're missing out on!
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7 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 22 Jul
I thought you were going to say that being off-putting is a feature not a bug.
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42 sats \ 2 replies \ @unschooled OP 22 Jul
i like that because it can segue into both an important discussion about censorship and zapping, and it's easy to grasp quickly. i heard someone else say it before, but there's something somewhat off-putting about describing one company by comparing it to another one.
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147 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 22 Jul
You may also have heard me say that. There’s a difference between interpersonal communication and branding, though.
If the person I’m talking to already gets bitcoin, then I’ll certainly bring that up. Otherwise, I think of bitcoin as part of why Stacker News works, rather than what Stacker News is.
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42 sats \ 0 replies \ @unschooled OP 22 Jul
Otherwise, I think of bitcoin as part of why Stacker News works, rather than what Stacker News is.
i like the way you phrased that
Edit: saying SN is awesome "because bitcoin," doesnt really capture its essence
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55 sats \ 4 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 22 Jul
It's a forum where you can earn Bitcoin for sharing and zapping good content.
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0 sats \ 3 replies \ @unschooled OP 22 Jul
true, but (playing the devil's advocate) this would not be very interesting to someone who doesnt care for bitcoin.
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85 sats \ 2 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 22 Jul
Look, if Bitcoin ain't your thing, then this place ain't for you. Everything here's Bitcoin in and Bitcoin out, so you gotta be down with it.
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33 sats \ 1 reply \ @unschooled OP 22 Jul
im not naive to that.
personally, being on here has helped me see how much more bitcoin represents than ngu.
however, theres lots of territories here that dont really concern bitcoin at all. ~Music is one that this family member would love sharing/hanging around in, even though he is averse to bitcoin. i think theres plenty of reasons why someone who is not "orange pilled" might want to use this site. getting paid in sound money is obviously a bonus, but its not the only attractive thing.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @unschooled OP 22 Jul
~aliens_and_UFOs ~alter_native ~HealthAndFitness ~Cartalk ~DIY ~Design ~econ ~gaming ~lol ~science ~Stacker_Sports ~Stacker_Stocks ~the_stacker_muse ~Travel ~videos to name a few more
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65 sats \ 0 replies \ @beameduplol 22 Jul
If I'm talking to a Bitcoiner, then usually I can describe it to be similar to a "bitcoiner's paradise", no AI slop, pay to post & get paid directly in Bitcoin over Lightning.
If I'm talking to a nocoiner, describing it as Reddit without the censorship (and more of useful content than shitposting) is good enough.
Of course, none of that matters, because I like Bitcoin which automatically makes me a weirdo in society. Tough. 😁
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45 sats \ 2 replies \ @denlillaapan 22 Jul
I don't...?
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12 sats \ 1 reply \ @unschooled OP 22 Jul
really? i feel you of all people could make a great case for it.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @denlillaapan 23 Jul
Perhaps.
I just don't talk about bitcoin or anything related to my social circle
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45 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 23 Jul
I don't know if there's much point to selling SN to someone who is hostile to bitcoin. Neutral or friendly to Bitcoin, yes, but not hostile.
A hostile person needs to be explained what bitcoin is, at least to the point that they're open to it, before they'd see any value to SN
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45 sats \ 1 reply \ @Maximux 22 Jul
I'd say it's a forum-like platform where you can freely discuss Bitcoin. Some topics are a bit technical, but it's an uncensored environment. Plus, you can access very knowledgeable people.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @unschooled OP 22 Jul
you can access very knowledgeable people.
is one that i like to emphasize. sn is the people using it.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 23 Jul
Where I post random snippets of my life and get enough sats to buy my beer 🍻
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @LibertasBR 23 Jul
I’d say it’s a site where you interact by sharing ideas, posting, and commenting. There’s no algorithm, and the way things are ranked is through credits (since it’s an elevator pitch, I won’t go into details). People use credits to post and comment, and they earn credits for those same actions. That way, AI spam, nonsense, and similar stuff don’t last — they die out.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Macoy31 23 Jul outlawed
stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.