Some #nostr developers have been reaching out to the community for ideas regarding what to develop/implement next. Last week, I jotted down some things that have crossed my mind on the subject. Please note that as I am not a developer, I'm unsure/unaware of how feasible most of these are to implement on a technical level. Also, some of the things I mention below are already being implemented to an extent, but not throughout the whole ecosystem yet.
In no particular order:
NOSTR II (Nostr Improvement Ideas)
-Pinned notes
-Curated follow and mute lists
-Highlighted profiles
-Related notes and/or profiles (based on engagement stats and/or heuristics)
-Media only and text only tabs + ability to set either of them as the default view
-Ability to auto-block media from loading + a separate button to load it (especially important on mobile/high data cost instances)
-“BASED” mode where you can’t like without zapping (likes could be removed completely or simply require a 1 sat+ zap attached to it)
-“Super Follow” feature + tab. I think this one is important because, at least for me, noise/low signal on the timeline is a problem everywhere on social media. But that doesn’t mean I necessarily want to unfollow anyone - I would just like the ability to “super follow” - and the ability to switch to a view where I can only see activity from these accounts
-Recommended nostr apps section
-Links section
-“Supporters” tab - ability to enable and set a min. amount to be zapped to your account and that user to be added to the tab (like the highlighted profiles idea, but not curated by the user, but rather determined by the biggest zaps). The tab could also feature a link to the activity feed of the top (or all) supporters + the account itself (could improve discoverability and give an extra incentive to become a supporter). The supporters list could also be cumulative per account, or sorted by the largest single zap. A supporter should also be able to set up an automatic contribution after a certain period of time (in case of a built-in wallet) a’la Patreon, or set reminders to do so. Could also be coupled with a badges system where you can set up custom badges or thank you notes to be awarded to the users who zap above a certain threshold
-Outbox model implementation
-“Reviews” tab - ability to enable and for other users to leave star ratings and reviews - especially important for companies and people who sell stuff though nostr. Could also set a cost, a password, or a one time code to post the review in order to prevent spam
-Location-based feed and/or profiles - only show content from your approximate area. Of course, this would need to be fully opt-in and done in the most privacy preserving manner possible
-Integrated LN or Cashu wallets (of course)
-“Blind” mode - hide profiles and/or engagement stats from notes and show only the content
-ZAP SPLITS everywhere
-Built-in VPNs in the apps
-Audio only notes recording + posting abilities (ideally includes transcribing as well as an optional extra)
-Scheduled notes
-Collaborative drafts and notes
-Built-in image, video and/or audio editor(s) (could be coupled with AI-powered generative or enhancement services)
-NUMBERS. This is a very unrefined idea, but I feel like numeric data is being severely underutilized on this protocol. I reckon it could be used to build a huge crowd-sourced database of statistics, charts and graphs
-Dislike/downzap button
-Automatic rewards for engaging with an account or notes. Would probably require an integrated wallet with sats loaded onto it - ideally, you would be able to set a separate budget for each action/campaign. For example, I’d like to be able to set an automatic reward to anyone who follows me. Or for the next 100 people who follow me. Or pay for boosting a specific note, or any of my notes. Or even more intricate setups, such as: a user follows+likes and boosts a specific note. If the user themselves have been a nostr user for at least a year and have 100+ followers, they get an X amount, but if they have less than 100 followers they get amount Y, etc.
-A built-in marketplace and/or a digital products/services section
-Lists
-Bookmarks
-“1 Year Ago Today,” most used words and hashtags, accounts most interacted with, biggest fans, your most popular notes in a given period of time, note stats, etc. - periodic or real-time reviews of account (or global, or regional) activity
-Ability to set a cost to people DM’ing you (and to disable or lower the cost to the people you follow or other certain circles)
-Another unrefined idea, but a nostr client that acts as a bridge between nostr and email protocols providing the ability to create and access an email address with your nsec. Perhaps some relays could be a combination of a nostr relay + email server? As a client, you would only pay for the storage that’s ACTIVELY being used. Again, an ability to set a cost of sending to that address would be great
-Apps with nostr, not nostr apps (hat tip to Roy Sheffield)
As for revenue, a bunch of the things above could be fully or partially monetized. As a more general measure, a “Premium” badge (i.e. Damus Purple) coupled with an auction-based ad system (or - to keep it nostr-native - “ads” would simply be pinned notes displayed throughout the UX), would probably be lucrative. Premium badge would remove the ads, of course. But since ads are not really prominent in any of the nostr apps for now, incorporating them without providing some extra benefit to the user would be a mistake. The solution lies in a model similar to Brave browser’s Rewards - a portion of the ad revenue would be split between active users depending on their activity and/or engagement their account generates. The user could also turn off ads (and not receive the revenue, naturally). Or, a Premium user could choose to turn the ads on and earn a higher % of the ad revenue pool.