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As a crypto-skeptic (lol), I really like Nostr. Unfortunately, I don't think it will catch on until someone takes the time to shave off the sharp technical edges and figure out spam + identity verification. The current Nostr network is full of cult-like bitcoin cryptobros, racist Twitter/Fediverse refugees, and spam. Lots, and lots of spam. But the technology is cool af and could be made into something more.

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Yeah, partly why I think you need something like Urbit’s ID system to counter spam.

Though I’m biased and just generally like the urbit approach more.

I’ve switched over to only private and/or paid relays and don’t experience any spam whatsoever. Not that this is the best solution to spam, but it has been effective.

I host my own relay and it's stupid easy to set up. The problem then becomes relay discovery, which is an almost completely unsolved problem. I do think it will get there in though.

Check out the gossip client [0]. They take a unique stab at dealing with relay discovery. NIP-65 [1] also attempts to deal with this. Hopefully clients will start implementing this shortly.

[0] https://github.com/mikedilger/gossip

[1] https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/65.md

https://coracle.social (my web client) implements relay discovery as well.

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