Oddbean

Not sure I agree on the harassment issue. The protocol layer is dedicated to providing a stable foundation where anyone can post anything, and I don't see the issue of harassment changing that, because whether a note or reply is harassment is a value judgement. It might not be the intention, and there's a spectrum that needs to be considered. The protocol layer can't really deal with that level of complexity. I think the functionality that you are looking for is in network logistics, where we could be given the option of seeing whether an npub is a close connection with someone else that we have already muted, and make it an easy single click to mute that npub as well. That would work well at the client level, if the client has the type of network analytics that I'm thinking about. That kind of development work is going to be coming, but right now I haven't seen anything. And I think the second issue of "random jerks" is also going to be related to network analytics as well. We can see a list of Nostr Highlights in our feed. Maybe a client could dig a bit and provide a list of "most muted npubs". If someone decides to be a complete jerk to anyone and everyone, they can post whatever they want as long as they are in a silo that protects the rest of the network from abuse. So put them on a list and give people the option to mute jerks sight unseen.

As @brugeman pointed out below Nos has something like this. However in user research multiple people have noted they don’t like having posts hidden that are outside their network. It forces users to do extra work which is not really freedom. If you haven’t tried it out, try Nos for a week and LMK what you think. One thing that would be helpful is to look at the entire user journey when thinking about freedom. We focus a lot on the initial post, but we don’t pay enough attention to the subsequent dialogue that ensues. Freedom within dialogue is very different than speaking into the public square. In the public square I can walk away from someone by unfollowing them. In a dialogue (thread or via mentions) I cannot walk away. With mute I can put on headphones and hope the harassers buddies don’t show up. If they do then i have to keep adding additional sets of headphones. But then my friends have to step in or be subject to the harassment as well or they need to put on headphones. Within the dialogue- the power is in the hands of the harassers if mute is the only option. If Nostr adds the ability to limit replies and mentions, then the person being harassed has the freedom to walk away. The harasser can still speak in the public square, they simply can’t speak in a dialogue when the other person doesn’t want them there.

Yeah I’m mistaken about the protocol layer as the place where mutes of replies and mentions should happen. Based on some conversations today it makes the most sense that the clients and relays screen for these. In terms of filtering out the random jerks - other protocols are experimenting with mute lists - similar to what you suggest above and I think it’s a good option for Nostr as well. A user can subscribe to a mute list of their choice based on whatever criteria they have - it could be words / content or people. Another framing is feed curation. The beauty of Nostr at its basic level is that the user is in control of their feed, rather than an algorithm. Sorting through harassment challenges makes that control truly possible.

Exactly. If I don't want to see a post, then I need to be the one to make that choice. And the reverse is also true. If I do want to see a post, I need to be the one in control. Giving algorithms or advertisements control of pushing and pulling is what I hate about all of the other centralized corporate social media networks. It's why we are here instead of there. Because nobody else has control.