PoW endorsements can be computed by specialized miners, because who computes them isn't important.

I am not talking about PoW on every note. PoW endorsements are like PoW keys, but better.

However, that's not necessarily useful for new users. But then the question is, how can someone enter nostr?

Maybe the answer is that they need a invite of some sort to surpass the "reputation threshold".

E.g. the user gets invited by someone and that someone automatically follows them.

Or, the user gets invited into a NIP29 (?) community, and so proof of membership in a reputable community can be used.

 

 cc @nielliesmons I am spreading your idea of communities as entry points. 

 > Maybe the answer is that they need a invite of some sort to surpass the "reputation threshold".

That's the only plausible idea to me too, but it doesn't solve someone hearing "nostr" on twitter and googling it and trying to get onboarded. 

 yep, it doesn't. Maybe, just maybe, that's a feature. U know, invite-only socials have a sense of exclusivity. 

 Unfortunately the applied solution will be "please type these letters from the image" unless we figure something out 

 yeah, but I am not that pessimistic.

It's an order of magnitude better to do chaptas ONLY ONCE and then rely on your acquired reputation, than solving them all the time 

 Captchas don't really solve anything either, they just make spam a bit more costly, but people will resort to them without anything better on the table.