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Imagine you saw a post on nostr that had been zapped 100 sats.
Now imagine you saw a post on X that had 100 likes.
While I understand that a sat is actual money and a like is not even a puff of electric wind, as far as the signal goes, what is your gut feeling about the signal sent by equivalent quantities of each?
1 sat > 1 like64.3%
1 sat < 1 like21.4%
1 sat = 1 like14.3%
14 votes \ 19h left
102 sats \ 3 replies \ @LibertasBR 4h
I understand there's no correlation. Likes are like upvotes, a desire to validate the content with your agreement or even demonstrate a different reaction. Sats are a contribution to the person who made that post; they vary depending on the budget and desire of the contributor, and this is highly variable.
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But ,here on Stacker News, some of the ranking is determined by sats. Sats are really our only way of upvoting (or downvoting) posts and comments.
If you see them as different, how would you see that informing how sats get used to rank content on SN?
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102 sats \ 1 reply \ @LibertasBR 4h
I focused on Nostr's example. I still have the same understanding, even though we don't have upvotes here, I personally use sats according to the territory, post, comment.
My criteria isn't always exactly how much I liked it. But if I really liked it, I'd give it a lot more sats. You have a valid point.
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I wasn't trying to disagree with you. I usually zap a comment or reply someone makes in response to something I post as a way of saying that I read it and appreciate it.
On X, I'll often do the same with a like. But on X I can only ever like a post once, whereas on SN, I can increase the value of my like. It does change how they function a little.
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Check that 1 stat > 1 Like, but if you were an influencer or someone who moves people, likes are better, since having a large reach can earn you more than 1 stat.
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As a signal for content quality, 1 sat < 1 like. However, would I rather have 1 sat or 1 like? Currently, since I have no social brand to promote, I'd rather have 1 sat.
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Great way of putting it!
I wonder if we could figure out what amount sats = 1 like as a signal of content quality.
A post with 100 sats is usually better than a post with 1 like. So maybe it's less than 100 sats, something like 10 sats?
A post with 10 likes probably is better than a post with 100 sats of zaps.
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If we look at it as a signal rather than monetary value: 100 likes on X Very easy to give no cost, no commitment. You don’t know if the accounts are bots, or if people just tapped like out of habit. It’s a signal of surface-level approval: shows popularity, but not necessarily real value.
100 sats in zaps on Nostr or SN They cost something (even if tiny). Each zapper spends their own sats. It shows active support: “I found value in this and it’s worth me giving actual money.” The signal is “denser”: a few zaps can carry more weight than hundreds of likes.
Even a small zap carries more weight than a like. So 100 sats in zaps (even if only worth a few cents) feels like a stronger signal than 100 likes on X, because it represents genuine intent, not just a button press.
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Unlike other platforms where you get likes/upvotes, on Stacker News you earn sats for creating and curating content.
So yes, 1 sat > 1 like. 1 sat represents much more than just a like/upvote.
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