Q&A on a New Way to Do Social Media
By Ricky DiMartino

Q&A on a New Way to Do Social Media

By Ricky DiMartinoThere has been talk lately of a new way to do social media—a decentralized social media, one not controlled by third-party entities. It’s called nostr. The name stems from an acronym (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relay). But what is nostr really? And what are the pros and cons? To find out, we consulted with somebody who has been on the scene since nearly the beginning. He’s one of the hosts of a new podcast called Thank God for Nostr. Preferring to remain anonymous, he goes by the name of “hodlbod” on social media.  Q:  First, tell us a little about yourself. Who are you and what do you do?

A:  I'm just your typical run-of-the-mill web application developer with a special interest in fixing social media. I got started with nostr in late 2022 when I started work on coracle.social, a well-known nostr client.

Q:  So what is nostr and what is a nostr client?   

A:  Nostr is a nifty new protocol (not a "platform") that allows users of internet-connected software to gain greater control over their experience. When used correctly, nostr has the ability to improve user convenience and privacy at the same time. A nostr client is just a piece of software—like an email client or web browser—that connects you with the network.

Q:  Can you elaborate on how it would improve user convenience?

A:  Nostr is based on cryptographic keys, rather than email/password combinations. This sounds complicated, but all it means is that no one can forge your identity, and anyone can verify that you said something. This gives nostr super powers: it allows you to take your keys, your social media posts, and your entire social graph from one product to another, without having to create a new account every time.There is no official nostr logo, since it is not an organization, but a protocol. But just like Twitter had a little blue bird as its symbol, a purple ostrich has become the de facto symbol of nostr. (Image courtesy of GitHub user SovrynMatt.)Q:  Can you explain a little about the “Relay” part in nostr? I’ve heard that it’s kind of like sending email, rather than connecting with a third-party platform and interacting through that.

A:  A relay is just a server that client software can expect to act in a certain way. The neat thing about relays is that you can connect to many relays, which means you aren't locked into a single data provider, and you get the benefits of any relay you choose to connect to.

Q:  Why is there a need for nostr?

A:  For some time now, governments have colluded with social media platforms to influence the public square, artificially boosting regime-friendly voices and suppressing others.

Q:  What is "wrong" with the traditional social media platforms out there; e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), YouTube, etc.?

A:  Big tech's business model is essentially user-hostile. Instead of providing value to their end users, social media companies have shifted towards exploiting their users' engagement for the purpose of increasing revenue. This has resulted in less-satisfying, more addicting social media experiences, and the consolidation of the tech oligopolies' influence.Q:  I've heard nostr described as censorship-resistant technology. How real is the threat of censorship in today's world?

A:  Very real. In more free areas of the world, like the United States, the threat of censorship continues to encroach. Censorship begins with good intentions and in moral gray areas, but only advances from there.

Q:  What practical uses for nostr do you see in restricted-access countries?

A:  Currently, nostr is mostly focused on broadcasting public data without deplatforming or identity verification. So it can be useful as a sort of "pirate radio" for subversive groups looking to get their message out. In the future, nostr may also be useful for censorship-resistant encrypted communication, but isn't ready for that yet.

Q:  So, hypothetically, a language project could publish Scripture content via nostr and anyone could receive it and interact with the language project team, but there would be no way for a government or third-party entity to censor that content or interaction; is that right?

A:  That's the idea! There are of course other ways to attack such a product, for example, at the ISP level; but there is no private company the government can pressure to de-platform you.

Q:  What are the limitations of nostr?

A:  Nostr is an incomplete privacy solution. For complete privacy, you have to think about what clients, relays, and media servers can learn about you from your connection. A VPN and TOR can help mitigate this, but perfect privacy is not easy. Also, nostr clients tend to be very bandwidth-intensive, and so they can be hard to use in areas with slow or expensive internet access.

Q:  If people want to try out nostr, what is a good way to do that?

A:  The easiest way to get started is to jump right in—find a client on nostrapps.com and play around with it! If you'd like to learn more about the protocol and why it matters, nostr.how and the Thank God for Nostr podcast are both great introductory resources.