dikaios1517 on Nostr: Well, that's an interesting way to put it. lol Effectively, yes. Take a moment to ...
Well, that's an interesting way to put it. lol
Effectively, yes.
Take a moment to think about what happens under the hood when you "follow" someone on #Nostr, and it will become clear why this is the case.
Everything on Nostr is a note. When you post something on most clients, that's a short text note (kind 1). When you "like" a post, that's a reaction note (kind 7). When you create your profile, that's a note too, specifically a kind 0. When you update your profile, a new kind 0 note is created and relays are supposed to discard the old one when they see the new one.
Following someone works similar to updating your profile. Everyone you follow is saved as a list of npubs as a kind 3 note. When you follow someone new, the client you are using has you sign a new kind 3 note that it posts to your selected relays, and those relays are supposed to delete any old follow list they have for you as soon as they see a new one.
This makes it very easy to count how many people YOU are following, because the client just has to find your most recent kind 3 on the relays you post to and add up how many npubs you have listed there. Done.
Counting how many people are following you is next to impossible, though. How could it even be done? There is no single list of npubs that are following you that gets updated every time someone hits the follow button on your profile. THEIR follow list gets updated on the relays THEY post to. In order to make an attempt at counting how many people are following you, your client has to reach out to the relays it knows about and ask if it has any kind 3 notes with your npub listed. Different clients may check different relays. Some relays where folks are posting their kind 3 notes may not be checked by any clients at all.
For that reason, follower counts will always be approximate at best.
Effectively, yes.
Take a moment to think about what happens under the hood when you "follow" someone on #Nostr, and it will become clear why this is the case.
Everything on Nostr is a note. When you post something on most clients, that's a short text note (kind 1). When you "like" a post, that's a reaction note (kind 7). When you create your profile, that's a note too, specifically a kind 0. When you update your profile, a new kind 0 note is created and relays are supposed to discard the old one when they see the new one.
Following someone works similar to updating your profile. Everyone you follow is saved as a list of npubs as a kind 3 note. When you follow someone new, the client you are using has you sign a new kind 3 note that it posts to your selected relays, and those relays are supposed to delete any old follow list they have for you as soon as they see a new one.
This makes it very easy to count how many people YOU are following, because the client just has to find your most recent kind 3 on the relays you post to and add up how many npubs you have listed there. Done.
Counting how many people are following you is next to impossible, though. How could it even be done? There is no single list of npubs that are following you that gets updated every time someone hits the follow button on your profile. THEIR follow list gets updated on the relays THEY post to. In order to make an attempt at counting how many people are following you, your client has to reach out to the relays it knows about and ask if it has any kind 3 notes with your npub listed. Different clients may check different relays. Some relays where folks are posting their kind 3 notes may not be checked by any clients at all.
For that reason, follower counts will always be approximate at best.