We're just about coming up on it having been one month since I wrote my article, "Nostr, The Strangest and Clunkiest Twitter Replacement." In that time, I've explored the protocol, I've switched websites, and lamented the fact that I didn't post that first article on Nostr (especially because people's links to it are now likely broken).

Nevertheless, summed up, my initial impression of the network was that most apps felt clunky, or underdeveloped. I felt like the audience was mostly Bitcoin _obsessed _people, with mixtures of the political right and left, all of which who're enthusiastic about not being censored, or banned for what they say. You know, because humans make mistakes, and sometimes our ideas are different than that of which someone else might hold. As it is, and as it goes.

A month ago, I was bewildered, I didn't really know what to think, but ... I was at least a little intrigued. I wanted to explore, and meet people, and figure it out.

My findings were that, despite the semi-lack of data privacy (anyone can use your npub to see what your personal timeline looks like), and the fact that blocking is a bit harder (a thing that's also kind of a problem on Mastodon and Bluesky, anyway), Nostr is an example of actual decentralization. Decentralization, despite it being kind of ... looked down upon by masses of people outside the network.

Which ... is weird. You would think people on Bluesky, who are also enthusiastic about decentralization, would realize that the busky devs are lying to them about what their motives and what decentralization is, and are. And you'd think, some people would look at Mastodon and go, "You know, this place is cool ... but I kinda hate losing all of my posts if some totalitarian admin decides to kill my account? And that my only option is to buy a server and host my own? If I never want to be banned _again? _And then networks of instances can form a secret cabal to silence my entire server, anyway?"

You would think by now, many, many people would be tired of the looming threat of a banning. Or is it just me?

I've talked about my exploration of the protocol on all these networks, to comments like, "Isn't that purely a right wing social network?" or "Why are you hanging out with Jack?"

And, I didn't really know what to say? Of course I don't know Jack, and yeah I've seen plenty right wing postrs, but I've also definitely seen plenty of left wing people. It's almost like, people do what they want, regardless of the ideas they hold, and the opinions of others. At least, sometimes.

Speaking of, my experience hasn't been completely perfect. I've had some trolls, some nasty people dump into my notifications, and they weren't even all that particularly nasty. But it made me step back and go, "You know, I can't block these people, am I sure about all this?" And because of that, I sort of stepped away for a while. I had a real big think while I continued my postings on the other networks. I tried to think about why I'm on social media.

Obviously, I do things. I make music. I write. These are things I want to share with people, but I'm also here to meet people, to make connections, and even sometimes, to network? I know a lot of people out there are fortunate enough to have landed into something they love doing, or actually want to do with the rest of their lives, and that's fantastic. But, what I want to do is so unconventional that it only makes sense that I reach out, and explore.

What is it I want to do? I wanna be a creator, but not just some influencer on Instagram, or some Youtuber who spends eight years building up one hundred thousand followers. Nah.

I just wanna make a career out of using what I know how to do, to inform, and entertain. That's it. And hey, maybe I can do that on Nostr, as it builds and expands.

And that's part of why I came back. That's part of why I bought into Alby, and now apparently also run a cloud node. A Node Runner, like a netrunner, but with less hacking people's brains to make their eyes melt.

I mean ... it is really cool that the whole protocol is connected across this network, where each instance of Nostr can be a completely different piece of software, for different things, like blogging, live-streaming, selling merch, or even a forum, and you can just log in with your address. Dude. It's like what Mastodon set out to be from the start, but hasn't quite made it there yet.

I fully believe Mastodon is being stifled by its creator, who's more concerned with impressing potential investors than with making something great. Which, is a shame.

But the future of the internet and social media _will always be _a future that is owned by the people, run by the people, developed by the people. Because algorithms, engagement baiting, and ad pushing will only ever go so far, until the very last person left standing on these aforementioned networks finally goes, "Man, this fuckin' sucks." And leaves.

How do I feel about Nostr, a month later? I feel conflicted, I feel like it's great, and I feel unsure. But I feel like it's definitely something. Something worth continuing to pay attention to, as the rest of the social web vies for control of everyone else's attention.