Oddbean new post about login | logout Platforms, not protocols: a VC approach to free speech
Not so wrong if the platforms are local and controlled by the ones living around them. But you still need the foundation of protocols like human dignity and respect. With online platforms compared to offline the problem (and advantage) is that they are not local. What do you think of introducing some artificial locality into nostr? We could reduce the spam problem by some proximity measure like attaching a “place” to an npub. Screaming to the other side of the world could be considered spammy if you didn’t move your npub first.
I always hoped that kind of thing would be done by relays. Relays can be easily be local. Well, in fact Japanese relays already block anyone that isn't Japanese.
This is nifty
This is nifty
Can plebs run their own relay, and have that relay pull and push to other relays.. Allowing my other devices to talk exclusively to my own relay?
Yes.
Thats the whole point
No, that's not the whole point and I struggle to understand why anyone would want that. If you want to run a server that does Nostr on your behalf it's better to get it to serve you only the notes that you want using a custom API only between you and it. Nostr clients are made to talk to multiple relays -- and to not trust them, and to bypass their censorship attempts and go find notes elsewhere etc. But the approach above is still valid. If you use something like Ditto, for example, it will download notes from a bunch of places for you, then serve them to you in a neat and efficient interface.
Which relay has this functionality?
My point wouldn’t be about blocking. It’s more about a client tuning in to the noise and give “far away” notes less priority. Like in real life where you need to go somewhere to hear a person speak. The scaling factors of a note could be: distance and noise (real people get soar throats and cannot scream the whole day, this helps against spam) overridable by the listener.
In that case different algorithms for distance could be used instead of just geographical location.
Yes. And the main point would be that one npub has to commit for a locality. Moving could be possible, but would have opportunity costs attached: you loose access to the old locality. And moving too often could be considered spammy. This could be a metric for a public reach equilibrium. An elastic system. Certainly always overridable by the clients (e.g. by fellowship).
VC = vulture capital
I’ve never forgotten this article from a professional society magazine. https://spectrum.ieee.org/how-venture-capital-thwarts-innovation
You got me again. Your big brain is much smarter than mine so yet another thing for me to learn. Thanks 🙏