335 sats \ 7 replies \ @kr 28 Jul 2022 \ on: I really dislike using the word 'boost' for paying with bitcoin bitcoin
disagree.
a good word for the payments people make on Stacker News, Fountain, and other V4V apps is useful because these kinds of payments simply don’t happen in the real world.
on the internet, everyone is transferring information. but we don’t call everything a transfer
- i stream netflix movies
- i upload photos
- i download music
- i text friends
- i share posts
even in payments we already use different terms depending on the types of payments.
- i pay rent
- i tip waiters
- i fund companies
- i bet on sports
- i remit money abroad
- i subscribe to a newsletter
the term “boost” is picking up steam across the small, but growing bitcoin ecosystem. if anything, the SN usage of boost is an outlier, it’s the micro-tipping action that people are associating with the word boost.
while I see the point and for sure also think that we need to use known language I very much agree with @kr and I dislike paying.
Just because a transfer of value is involved I don't think it is a "payment" It should not feel like a payment and not like the typical payment (buyer vs. seller) relationship.
I want to support an artist, I want to upvote a comment, I want to say thank you, ...
"boost" seems to be neutral, universal, positive to me... and it's picking up.
(funnily enough just today: I had started the conversation in Alby to change "send sats" to "boost" when Alby detects some tipping details on Twitter, YouTube, etc. - should we? )
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Mash has just introduced a feature called boosts to support creators too, seems like the term is catching on within the Bitcoin community
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You make a decent argument for needing new words to describe unique actions. Perhaps micro-tipping needs its own word, like we use NFT instead of 'receipt'.
At least NFT is a new word though and not a redefinition of an existing word that already has 5 competing meanings, some of which entirely contradict this new meaning.
SN's usage of boost is consistent with the word's primary definition - calling it an outlier kind of emphasizes how ridiculous the word choice is.
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the word ‘set’ has 430 definitions in the oxford dictionary.
track and field athletes “set” personal records
volleyball players “set” the ball
tennis players win a “set”
golfers have a “set” of clubs
all of those definitions are just for sports, yet no athlete gets confused when they hear the word during a sporting event.
short words like set and boost already have many definitions, but it doesn’t make them less useful or wrong in certain settings.
rather than trying to find a new obscure word with no existing definitions (we don’t have any good ones afaik), i think we should be open to using existing words in a specific context to define common actions.
i’m not suggesting “boost” is the only word that we should consider to replace paying or tipping, and it does have existing uses in the marketing industry and in aerospace engineering, but right now it has momentum in the bitcoin ecosystem, it is reasonably short, and sounds better than tipping imo.
when i send a boost, i think of it as my endorsement of someone’s podcast, SN post, or other content with my money.
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Here's another IMO correct (by english language standards) use of 'boost' from @jb55: in damus boost means retweet, aka elevate.
You're right, 'set' is highly overloaded as are many other very short english words. Still, these are exceptions and without good reason I think overloading words is an anti-pattern, as in they confuse and hide meaning rather than reveal it, as in overloading should be used very selectively. IMO, boost already being a synonym for stealing, an antonym for giving, makes it an uphill battle for understanding boost as tipping/paying. Also, with Bitcoin being a global asset, overloading boost could add to confusion for non-english speakers.
Maybe boost will eventually solidify as meaningful. For the time being, it only confuses me, and likely other people who aren't bitcoin "insiders."
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The ‘elevate’ definition of boost makes sense, isn’t that’s what a tap of the Lightning bolt does to Stacker News posts?
It elevates the post higher up on the page (along with sending a payment).
I hadn’t ever heard boost being used as a synonym for stealing before, but it is on Google as a north american synonym.
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I obviously think you shouldn’t change it to boost, but some people seem to prefer it.
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