Thoughts on the disorganized nature of BTC information \ stacker news ~bitcoin

Thoughts on the disorganized nature of BTC information

168 sats \ 3 comments \ @tenuous 7 Sep 2022 bitcoin freebie

Lately I have been learning about self-hosting nodes and I'm simultaneously impressed by how many smart people are out there but absolutely horrified at how dysfunctional and disorganized the web has become. I'd love SN community feedback or strategies or thoughts.

Github. Using this for code is above my paygrade so I won't comment. But it is awful as a communication platform. Some people have tried to make great guides and links etc but they get devoured by the size and scope of the whole platform. Based on recent tornado cash situation also safe to assume it is a division of the big tech & state apparatus.
Telegram / Discord. Bad interfaces, don't respect privacy. It is absurd to me that these are popular. Literally mIRC was better 20 years ago. I would love to see a return to basic communications without all the fiat nonsense that took over.
Individual users / guides. People like @DarthCoin and @anarkio and many many others are doing a great job here. Tirelessly making blogs and posting to all available platforms. It would be great if we could federate or link up all this info somehow. Remember the days of geocities websites? You could get lost in a rabbit hole of personal sites forever.
Youtube/Podcasting. Some may disparage the flashier "hollywood" promotion side of bitcoin but the polished youtube videos and constant collaboration of guests really gets the message across. They are doing their part really successfully, credit where it is due. Same with the banker set, they relentlessly make appearances on TV and you may not like it but they are putting in the work.
Matrix, minds, etc. Most of these still have the feeling of "failure to launch" No offense intended to the developers. But perhaps devs should restructure around collaboration, because they are drowning as individuals. Nostr looks promising but I don't know much.
Stacker.News. This is a great platform and @k00b clearly pays a lot of attention to our feedback. Maybe this site plays a role somehow in aggregating all the information about our new freedom economy. It has somehow managed to attract a great group of people organically.

Thanks for reading, I'd really like to hear everyones suggestions or thoughts.

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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @lv99_slacker 7 Sep 2022

The Bitcoin Manual is probably the closest thing to a one-stop site to learn about the nuts n' bolts of bitcoin as well as the latest developments in the space: https://thebitcoinmanual.com/

But, yeah, learning and keeping abreast of everything is a hodge podge of resources. Definitely doesn't help with adoption. Stacker News helps though. No need to go down various rabbit holes on Twitter to discover bitcoiner podcasts and YT channels. New episodes of bitcoiner shows are usually linked on SN, along with international news and regulatory movements.

333 sats \ 1 reply \ @cointastical 7 Sep 2022

You left out Twitter, which is where well over half, ... maybe 80% of Bitcoin conversation occurs.

You also left out the web (Blog posts, including Medium), Q&A (Reddit, Quora, and Stack Exchange), sponsored content (e.g, research reports, BitcoinTreasuries.net), and e-mail (newsletter subscriptions, including Substack)

Telegram, Discord, Twitter, and e-mail ... all have a terrible problem with spambots, spam, trolling, etc. that make them almost unusable. They cannot fix this without adding a cost for getting my attention. Whether that cost is like hashcash (for e-mail), or sats (for Stacker News), I can't say what will win, but if you notice, SN has had surprisingly very little outright spamming (e.g., reflink spam, "giveaways" / promotions unrelated to bitcoin orgs, scams, etc.). So I think platforms requiring payment (in some form) will either displace legacy sites or force them to do something similar.

The problem with aggregation of content, I think, is that the aggregation method gets better, and then it becomes too voluminous. Or the scope widens, also causing the space to be too voluminous. For instance, a good chunk of bitcoin mining is now related to how bitcoin can help (or is helping) the energy industry, or "saving the environment". It's getting to be that maybe only 50% or less of new posts have nothing to do with bitcoin itself, nowadays. Much of this non-bitcoin content found on SN is still of interest to me (e.g., science, economics, some politics, etc.) and fortunately surprisingly very little shitcoining happens, but I suspect that over time SN will see more content submitted and upvoted (to the front page) by a different crowd than SN sees today.

Reddit used to be my source for info for years, but because of ghost bans, and other such nonsense, I deleted my account and haven't looked back. I'ld like someday to do the same with my Twitter account.

Hopefully SN will be able to adopt as the challenges arise such that SN continues to be the main place to keep informed about bitcoin (and some other stuff I appreciate discovering). But as far as an organized information source of all things? ... At one time I would have suggested something like a wiki. Wikipedia and such has shown me that's not a good solution either. It's a big issue to tackle.

25 sats \ 0 replies \ @tenuous OP 7 Sep 2022

This is great thanks and I agree with you 100%. I only left out traditional social media because the problems are glaringly obvious as you point out.

I think you are conflating aggregation with algorithmic fuckery. Proprietary rankings and bot manipulation are kept under careful lock and key because everyone has their own secret sauce to defraud investors.

This is why you "used to" enjoy reddit along with everyone else. The upvote system wasn't a bad idea before it became completely corrupted by propagandists. It did have some organic problems with hive mind but nowhere near what it has turned into.

I've been wondering lately if it is the sats themselves or the intellectual barrier of lightning / minimalist design that minimizes the spam. We should explore both in depth. But like with many things you don't have to be perfect just on the right track. The same way traditional socials spiraled out of control, this site might spiral into control!