The Nostr Megathread

[NotATether]

⁜ The One And Only Nostr Megathread ⁜

A couple hours after my previous topic I realized that there was almost no suitable places to talk about Nostr and have a discussion. So I have created this thread here for that purpose.

What is Nostr?

Nostr is an open-source and decentralized social media protocol which is built with many of the technology from Bitcoin and Lightning Network.

• In Nostr, your keypair is your account. Say goodbye to account hacks and lockouts.
  
• Nostr is censorship-resistant. Anybody can run a Nostr relay, so there is no central company that can censor you.
  
• Nostr has no owner. Nobody can buy out the platform and unleash a wrecking ball.
  
• Nostr is hate-resistant. There's no algorithm that boosts the score of controversial posts and spam - posts make it to your feed by total number of likes.
  
• You can even pay people on Nostr. Saw something you like? You can 'zap' the creator some sats from your Lightning wallet.
  
  
  Some Nostr Clients
  
  
• Damus (iOS/macOS)
  
• Amethyst (Android)
  
• Primal (Web/iOS/Android)
  
• Snort (Web)
  
  Many Lightning Wallet browser extensions also support Nostr.
  
  
  Nostr vs Other Sites
  
  Nostr is a great alternative if you are trying to get away from the deranged circus that is X (formerly Twitter).
  
  Nostr is more privacy-friendly than Meta's Threads. You do not even need an email address.
  
  Due to its design, Nostr is also more censorship-resistant than Mastodon and Bluesky and all the other sites listed above too.
  
  On Nostr, you can use a private key that you created for your bitcoin address as your Nostr identity (but this is not recommended for many reasons). Better yet, you can create a completely different set of keys just for Nostr.
  
  Bitcoin wallets are starting to get good integration with Nostr, to the point where you can even log in automatically too.
  
  
  Other Use Cases of Nostr
  
  Nostr isn't just for social media! It can decentralize almost all websites. Here is a list:
  
  

  Here goes a list of clients specialized in other stuff
  Chachi (group chat) - web
  Flotilla (group chat) - web
  zap.stream (livestreaming) - web
  Plebeian Market (marketplace) - web
  LNbits Market (marketplace) - extension
  Shopstr (marketplace) - web
  Nests (audio rooms) - web
  Wikifreedia (encyclopedia) - web
  Wikistr (encyclopedia) - web
  Coop (direct messages) - desktop
  Futr (direct messages) - desktop
  Pollerama (polls) - web
  Olas (photos) - iOS | Android
  Stemstr (music) - web
  Highlighter (long-form articles) - web
  Habla (long-form articles) - web
  Obsidian plugin (long-form articles) - desktop
  Comet (long-form articles) - desktop
  

  
  Here you've got Reddit replacements, Substack replacements, YouTube replacements, Instagram replacements, Wikipedia replacements, even some e-commerce clients for good measure.
  
  
  How To Get Started With Nostr
  
  To use Nostr, you must create an account. Since an account is just a keypair, simply go to your preferred Lightning Network wallet and follow the instructions to create a keypair. Make sure you do back-up the secret key somewhere or you will lose your identity (like I almost did).
  
  Then open your favorite client and start browsing!
  
  
  Self-moderated
  
  I do not anticipate having to delete anyone's posts, but the general rules still apply - no spam, no flame wars, etc.
  

[BlackHatCoiner]

For another good description of Nostr, read the following: https://njump.me/.

Nostr is extremely important for humanity, right now. I would place the ability to avoid manipulation by the toxic algorithms of social media on the same level of significance as self-custodying your own bitcoin. You have complete control over what is fed to you, and what is not!

What was missing was a user-centric standard for the Internet. Previously, you had to place complete trust in the website operator to deliver information, leaving you entirely dependent on them. Now, the same information can be sourced from multiple operators, giving users the freedom to choose which source to rely on, and creating an environment of robustness and competition over the most preferable operator.

TL;DR: More freedom, more sovereignty, zero censorship.

[ABCbits]

Since it's megathread located on Bitcoin parent board, how about making list of some Bitcoin software or service which use Nostr? For example, https://joinstr.xyz/.

[NotATether]

Since it's megathread located on Bitcoin parent board, how about making list of some Bitcoin software or service which use Nostr? For example, https://joinstr.xyz/.

Yes, that is a good idea, and in fact, the Nostr website itself has a list of such sites which I just copied and pasted here in quotes.

[NotATether]

Nostr Addresses

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with LNbits.

Nostr addresses look like email addresses, and allow people to find you more easily than with a long public key.

The process of acquiring a Nostr address is similar to buying a domain. There are many sites which sell Nostr addresses, but you can also get one for free from one of these sites:

Get verified through a free service
At the moment, there are several providers who are helping folks get verified for free. This is great option if you don’t have sats in your lightning wallet yet. If possible, support these projects via donations.

Bitcoin Nostr
Nostrcheck.me
zaps.lol
NIP05.social
Nostr-Check.com
Verified Nostr
Cosa Nostr

[apogio]

Very good thread.

I have to admit I generated my nostr keys back in 2022 and I haven't used nostr a lot. In fact, just very little.

I agree with BlackHatCoiner, Nostr is very important, especially these days.

I will keep an eye on this thread and I plan to suggest additions / edits when I think it's necessary.

ps. Just found my keys again, so, let's nostr.

[1440000bytes]

Since it's megathread located on Bitcoin parent board, how about making list of some Bitcoin software or service which use Nostr? For example, https://joinstr.xyz/.

Thank you for mentioning joinstr 

Agree. A list of bitcoin projects that use nostr would be more relevant on bitcointalk.

[bg002h]

Very good thread.

I have to admit I generated my nostr keys back in 2022 and I haven't used nostr a lot. In fact, just very little.

I agree with BlackHatCoiner, Nostr is very important, especially these days.

I will keep an eye on this thread and I plan to suggest additions / edits when I think it's necessary.

ps. Just found my keys again, so, let's nostr.

Nostr broke my Twitter addiction.

[trainingwheelz]

Wow it's gotten so much better!  I used it back in 2022 and it was very buggy. 

[NotATether]

Wow it's gotten so much better!  I used it back in 2022 and it was very buggy. 

Now there's more reliable relays, so the failure rate has gone down.

Personally I have purchased one paid relay in nostr.wine in addition to the other free relays so I don't experience errors while sending messages.

[BlackHatCoiner]

What happens if someone starts broadcasting copyrighted material? Could this be an attack vector that can take down reliable relays via the court?

Since it's megathread located on Bitcoin parent board, how about making list of some Bitcoin software or service which use Nostr? For example, https://joinstr.xyz/.

I found this github repo, but I'm not sure if it's integrated into Wasabi Wallet. Discovering coordinators via Nostr could be a nice initiative for privacy projects.

[apogio]

What happens if someone starts broadcasting copyrighted material? Could this be an attack vector that can take down reliable relays via the court?

I never thought about it, but it could certainly be an issue.
The question is, what would be required to take down a relay? I am genuinely asking because I don't really have enough knowledge on nostr.

btw. I found my keys, perhaps I will share them here later (but I don't know if it's relative to the thread because it's not a "find me in nostr" thread)

[NotATether]

What happens if someone starts broadcasting copyrighted material? Could this be an attack vector that can take down reliable relays via the court?

Relays are basically the equivalent of a social media server and since anyone can host one, it's going to be a game of whack-a-mole with relay operators.

[FCM0BIL3]

I really love Nostr (and even more so because it was developed by a fellow countryman, the so-called fiatjaf). It's really cool to see that it has reached Bitcoin Talk

[tigstigs]

Also endorsing Hivetalk (https://www.hivetalk.org) (the videoconf/screenshare webapp)

and check out https://www.nostrapps.com !

Good stuff a-plenty in there too. Use a decent extension for signing your events like nos2x and a whole new internet opens up 

[NotATether]

I really love Nostr (and even more so because it was developed by a fellow countryman, the so-called fiatjaf). It's really cool to see that it has reached Bitcoin Talk

More Bitcointalkers should use Nostr. It can be like a second group channel instead of the forum's unofficial Discord.

Also endorsing Hivetalk (https://www.hivetalk.org) (the videoconf/screenshare webapp)

and check out https://www.nostrapps.com !

Good stuff a-plenty in there too. Use a decent extension for signing your events like nos2x and a whole new internet opens up 

That's very cool. Personally, this caught my attention: https://nostrapps.com/plebeian-market but it seems that this service is still under development.

[NotATether]

Listening for Nostr messages uses a lot of data. Here's how you can use a private relay to receive fewer, more relevant, messages in your feed.

https://how-nostr-works.pages.dev/#/outbox

[NotATether]

Your nsec string is equivalent to a Bitcoin private key - you must back it up!

It may be difficult to write on paper, so it is better if you saved it in a file and encrypted it. You can use any reputable password manager for that, preferably one that has not suffered data breaches of their own vaults, but even better if you use an offline program like KeyPassXC.

[BlackHatCoiner]

It may be difficult to write on paper, so it is better if you saved it in a file and encrypted it.

Haven't they initiated a mnemonic standard yet? Seed phrases FTW.

[Pablo-wood]

Nostr seems to be the Decentralised version of almost all the popular social media platforms except for IG because uploading images and videos of one's self is another way of selling your data thereby defeating the whole idea of the Nostr censorship-resistabt resistant.