People have asked me how to grow on Nostr. It comes up every couple months, usually in a DM from someone who's been posting for a few weeks and feels like they're shouting down a storm drain.

The real answer is less clever than they're hoping for. Sure, you should know where the attention is. Which relays people actually read and when the feed wakes up. That matters some. It matters a lot less than they think.

What moves people here is hearing something true. Most of us spent years on platforms that paid out for whatever kept the advertiser comfortable and the algorithm fed, and you learn to smell a post written for a committee. Nostr folks have that nose sharper than anyone. A lot of them left the old places specifically to get away from that smell.

This is a free speech protocol, and there aren't many of those. Your reach comes from people choosing to follow you and choosing to repost you. So the only real lever is whether what you said was worth reading. That's a harder bar than gaming a feed, and the people who find you that way tend to stick around.

Say what you actually think. Say it plainly, in your own words, and let the people who disagree show up in your replies. Zap the ones who push back well. In my experience they're the ones who end up reposting you.