jsm on Nostr: Spam relies on two things, large reach and cheap cost per spam. The chance that any ...
Spam relies on two things, large reach and cheap cost per spam. The chance that any one person will click the link or fall for the scam is high incredibly low, so you need scale to get any significant reach.
To combat spam you need to knock out one or both of those requirements. You either need to limit the reach of spam or raise the cost per message. Both have trade offs. On a social network like Nostr, it’s difficult to easily identify and mute spam because there is so little metadata about each pub key to rely on with the focus on privacy. Raising the cost per note doesn’t require any information or work for relays, but can be handled by sending paying a relay or person per note or requiring proof of work to require burning electricity per note.
To combat spam you need to knock out one or both of those requirements. You either need to limit the reach of spam or raise the cost per message. Both have trade offs. On a social network like Nostr, it’s difficult to easily identify and mute spam because there is so little metadata about each pub key to rely on with the focus on privacy. Raising the cost per note doesn’t require any information or work for relays, but can be handled by sending paying a relay or person per note or requiring proof of work to require burning electricity per note.