Social:Nostr

From HandWiki
Short description: Decentralized social networking protocol

Nostr is a decentralized network protocol for a distributed social networking system. The name is an acronym for "Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays". It was designed with goals of censorship-resistance in mind.[1]

Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays
Communication protocol
PurposeSocial Networking
Developer(s)fiatjaf
IntroducedMarch 2020; 4 years ago (2020-03)[2]
Port(s)443, 80
A screenshot of a nostr client, coracle.social

The first known implementation of the Nostr protocol dates back to Nov 7 2020, created by a developer known as fiatjaf. [2] fiatjaf is widely credited as the creator of Nostr.

Users

As of April 2023, Nostr was primarily popular with Bitcoin users.[3] Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, endorses and has financially supported the development of Nostr by donating approximately $250,000 worth of bitcoin to the developers of the project.[3][4]

In January 2023 Nostr reached 100,000 users.[citation needed]

Open protocol

As an open protocol and FOSS project, Nostr allows for multiple different front-ends for the same data. Multiple Nostr clients exist.[5] Different extensions to the Nostr protocol are called "NIPs", for Nostr Implementation Possibilities.[6] The protocol's primary form of data transport is the use of a standardized kind of WebSocket server called a Relay.[7] Each user has a cryptographic keypair.[7]

Data on the Nostr protocol is stored in JSON blobs called Events, which are the only kind of object on the Nostr protocol.[8][7]

Censorship resistant

Nostr was created in response to increased internet censorship and social media restrictions in 2020. It claims to be censorship resistant.[9] Some Nostr apps have been banned in China.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. nostr - Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays, nostr-protocol, 2024-01-06, https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nostr, retrieved 2024-01-06 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "basic server relay code. · nostr-protocol/nostr@6158017 · GitHub". https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nostr/commit/6158017db0b12686218113232fff175a45953e2f. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Torpey, Kyle (21 February 2023). "Here's why Bitcoiners are flocking to Nostr, a social network supported by Jack Dorsey and Edward Snowden". https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/02/21/bitcoiners-flocking-to-nostr-social-network-jack-dorsey-edward-snowden/. 
  4. Schreckinger, Ben; Robertson, Derek (April 10, 2023). "Jack Dorsey explains his new obsession". https://www.politico.com/newsletters/digital-future-daily/2023/04/10/jack-dorsey-explains-his-new-obsession-00091279. 
  5. "Clients - Docs". https://nostr.com/clients. 
  6. "GitHub - nostr-protocol/nips: Nostr Implementation Possibilities". https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 "nips/01.md at master · nostr-protocol/nips · GitHub". https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/01.md. 
  8. "Events - Docs". https://nostr.com/the-protocol/events. 
  9. Castiglione, Chris (11 April 2023). "Nostr Decentralized Social Network". Forbes. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/04/11/how-to-get-started-with-nostr/?sh=6350dcff406b. 
  10. Reynolds, Sam (3 Feb 2023). "Nostr's Damus App Banned From China App Store". Yahoo Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jack-dorsey-based-social-network-070355179.html. 
  11. "Removal of Damus social media platform from China App Store was ‘expected’ by developers amid Beijing’s strict censorship". SCMP. SCMP. 6 Feb 2023. https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3209265/apples-removal-damus-social-media-platform-china-app-store-was-expected-developers-amid-beijings. 

External links