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145 sats \ 5 replies \ @Public_N_M_E 18 Jan \ on: How do you explain zapping to non-bitcoiners? bitcoin
It's a tip, sort of, it's not, but it's close enough that the leyman could understand that.
In the US tipping culture is very prevalent. It shouldn't be too hard to have people who are used to tipping wrap their heads around that concept.
Europe has in some places a more common tipping culture than others. I'd say mainland Europe it's more common than the UK.
I can't comment on other areas of the worlds tipping habits as I'm not familiar with them.
But for me it's a simple question. Did you like what that person wrote? If yes -> tip/zap if no -> move along.
Value for value only works if people give value. And I mean both ways.
EDIT had a bit of a thought burst.
One of the problems is, it's a payment sort of. But you've already consumed the content. You don't have to zap to consume the content. Why pay for something you can have for free? Personally I feel it's a show of appreciation (like a tip, but I understand that that brings other connotations).
As mentioned further down by user @southside263 tip (at least to me) means gratuity, as in grateful. A tip is a thank you. It's a voluntary extra to show appreciation. (I do concede that in the US a tip isn't seen as voluntary).
Perhaps refering to zapping more like a gratuity might be more palatable language for some people?
Gratuity is getting there, I like this idea of gratitude, thank you. Something freely given. I would love to use gift, but that sounds weird to my ears.
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I would love to use gift, but that sounds weird to my ears.
gift is correct, it feels like we're running an information gift economy on SN with LN as the value layer
zapping is somewhat analogous to a gift. you wanted to recognize that person for the value they brought , so you zapped- they didn't necessarily do it for you specifically, their action was a gift as well.
there's no explicit agreement for future reward when they did what they did but bitcoin allows us to thank people with value that we don't personally know.
'zap' to me implies a gift of bitcoin, specifically to someone you may not know personally, perhaps only by their nym, in a non-business transaction.
'I zapped someone because the recipe they posted was really good' tells you that I don't personally know the person and the fact that I sent them bitcoin.
'gift' could mean literally anything and implies a more personal connection than you may actually have.
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In the fan fiction world there is a pretty well developed concept of the gift economy. But it has a pretty strong anti-capitalist bent. So when I've spoken about zapping to fandom people, it hasn't gone too well.
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In the fan fiction world there is a pretty well developed concept of the gift economy. But it has a pretty strong anti-capitalist bent. So when I've spoken about zapping to fandom people, it hasn't gone too well.
Gift economy is accurate for what exists on nostr/SN - communities existing on a base layer that allows them to transmit value peer to peer.
where anti-capitalists might have a point is how the community tends to based around money (i.e., most people on nostr/SN are also bitcoiners, discussing finance etc) and are not necessarily in a dependence situation - they do not need to interact with the 'gift economy' to get the 'gift'(bitcoin).
using the fandom example, I can't necessarily get fan fiction from a cornerstore. it's not really a commodity in the same sense that say, a Gatorade is. I can't go and pay for a drink with it - but I could maybe trade my stories for someone willing to pay me with money to buy my drinks. I have to interact with whatever fandom I'm into to get my fix, and sometimes I might send someone money for things I desire to participate. having money isn't a hard requirement for participation, having what the fandom values is.
Bitcoin is many things -but it is also money-people may get hung upon this aspect and only see the fiat motivations as in the attention economy (see TikTok & their gifting of 'roses','galaxies'etc) vs the network of relationships being built via a knowledge gift market like nostr/SN.
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Yeah I get what you're saying about it sounding weird, it's a cultural thing. Where I from tipping isn't required. You pay for what you asked for and if you want to leave a tip for the waiting staff/barista/whoever. You do that as extra, and it's quite a big gesture, it's not expected and it's a way of saying thank you to them for being good whilst hosting you.
But like I said above, in other cultures tipping is not only customary it is expected. So to me gratuity means exactly that, it is expressing gratitude via a financial reward.
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