Have you tried Nostr yet?

Have you tried Nostr yet? If not, you should consider giving it a try this week. Nostr, known by its full name of Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays, is an open protocol that aims to create a censorship-resistant global "social" network without relying on a blockchain network.

One of the main benefits of Nostr is its censorship resistance. In today's online world, it's not uncommon for platforms to remove content or even ban users for expressing certain ideas or opinions. This can be frustrating for users who want to freely share their thoughts and ideas without fear of retribution. Nostr allows users to publish without worrying about their content being silenced.

How does it work?

So how does Nostr work? Essentially, everyone runs a client. This can be a native client on a computer or a web client accessed through a browser. To publish something, users write a post, sign it with their cryptographic key, and send it to multiple relays. These relays can be servers hosted by someone else or by the user themselves.

To get updates from other users, you simply ask multiple relays if they know anything about those users. This decentralized approach means that Nostr doesn't rely on any trusted central server, making it resilient to censorship and tampering. Plus, because the relays are simple and dumb (they just accept and forward posts), users don't have to trust them. Instead, signatures are verified on the client side, ensuring the authenticity of the content.

One of the key features of Nostr is that anyone can run a relay. This not only helps to decentralize the network and make it more resistant to censorship, but it also makes it easy for users to get involved and contribute to the community. Whether you're a tech-savvy individual looking to set up your own relay or simply want to use Nostr as a user, there's a place for you on the network.

Nostr Growth

Over the last few days Jack Dorsey, one of Twitter's cofounders and former CEO, gave around 14.7 Bitcoin to @fiatjaf to help the development of Nostr. @fiatjaf then split the funding to another development fund further decentralizing the holding of funds.

This event gave plenty of fuel for new users to check out the service. Relays have reported huge growth over the last week as users flock to check out why Twitter's founder was giving such praise. This ended up going supersonic when Twitter's current administration banned the promotion of off sites on Sunday leading to a huge Streisand effect.

In conclusion, Nostr is a unique and innovative open protocol that enables users to publish without fear of censorship. Its decentralized nature and reliance on cryptographic keys and signatures make it tamperproof and resilient to censorship. If you're looking for a social platform where you can freely share your thoughts and ideas, consider giving Nostr a try.

If you happen to find yourself on the protocol feel free to give me a follow. I've been using various platforms for about a year now but am still planning how I will end up using my main identity. You can follow me under ad2e457bd523f56878091176bca09e3a824fd82c04719fa7caf7ddecb28e32e7 which is verified to this site.

Let's stay connected!

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