Nostr's ambition is not only to replace Twitter
Original author:Alpha Rabbit Research Notes
Alpha Rabbit Research Notes
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1. The origin and succession of the Nostr protocol, such as what ideas and ideas it was created for, and some traffic analysis
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1.1 First, discuss the Nostr protocol
Damus, which has become popular recently, is an application built on the Nostr protocol, mainly based on a decentralized social scene (you can understand it as a decentralized Twitter).
And NOSTR is a protocol through which many things can be established. This protocol is a relatively lightweight, simple but scalable open protocol on which a truly decentralized social media platform can be established.
This protocol is based on relays (Relays, which can be translated as relay stations, relay terminals, relays, etc. This concept is very commonly used in Nostr. You can understand it as a relay server. In order to correspond to the Client client, we use it here Translated as the relay end, I would like to thank many friends who are on the Internet immediately for the translation, the thanks can be seen at the end of the article), the relay end is a server that can be operated by anyone, by establishing a persistent connection with the server, the client (or application) can Interact with events in real time (push and pull events in real time.)
Nostr's official website
about account
In nostr, we don't need to register an account by using personal data (see, that's its advantage).
Like Bitcoin, we only need one set of keys, which is two keys.
?️ A public key (Public Key) as your username, this key can be shared and made public to everyone (just like your Weibo account, WeChat ID, bank account, others use this to find you).
? A private key (Private Key). This key is like your password, you need to keep it secret, through this key, you can access your account on any platform supported by nostr. Just choose a nostr protocol client, such as anigma, coracle or astral, and it will be generated for you. Here, for added security, it is recommended to use an external signature program, such as Alby browser extension or nos 2 x extension, etc., It is also possible to generate a separate private key with tools such as Rana.
Pay attention to save the private key, because it is the only way to restore and log in to your account in the future. If you take Damus as an example, it is the picture I posted yesterday:
Protect your private key! Protect your private key! Protect your private key! There are thousands of roads, and safety comes first.
event:
Let's take a look at what the above data is all about:
For the content and created_at fields, these two are relatively simple,
The id is a unique identifier for the event, which is how it is uniquely referenced in the network.
The pubkey field contains the public key (user) who created the event.
The event (type of event) is one of the most interesting parts of nostr. This is a field that can specify what kind of event it is and why it is interesting, because it shows that the type of event is not limited, and we can design any we want. the kind you want."For example, if there is an event type, which is a plain text note, like a tweet, but also has end-to-end encrypted information like the 4th type above, so there are many possibilities here."The sig field (signature) is a cryptographic proof that the person who published the event is the owner of the private key associated with the public key.
The tags field can contain any tags you want, which provides developers with many possibilities! For example, when you reply to a message (event), the id of the event can be set as
e-label
Tag of.
About Relays: Relays
Relays are the main part of the nostr protocol and are used to store events received from clients. Relays cannot communicate with each other, only the relay you are connected to will receive and store your events.
This is also an important feature of Nostr, which means that relays cannot communicate with each other, so users should connect to as many relays as possible.
Clients (always will) allow users to connect to as many relays as they want, and users can choose whether they want to read, write, etc. from the relays they are connected to. This is the interesting part, which means that we can connect to a relay to retrieve content, but we can choose not to publish events there, or vice versa.
For example, if Bunny is connected to a Relay A and Bear is connected to a Relay B, even though they are both using nostr, they will not be able to see each other's events. In order to see events on the other side, users must be connected to at least one shared relay. This means that if the rabbit wants to see the event of the bear in the above situation, the rabbit needs to connect to the relay terminal B (or the bear can be connected to the relay terminal A), and then he can see the events of the other party .
This sounds a bit complicated, but its power is that you can host a relay that you don't share with anyone, and publish all your events there, so that you can only back up in your relay own events.
For example, there's a relay that wants to talk about entertainment news, and I don't want to participate or be a part of it, so I don't add that relay to my client. However, as a user, the network disk can still communicate with a user who is not only in the entertainment news relay terminal, but also in other relay terminals of which I am a member.
So the important thing about Nostr is that it can give individuals a lot of power, like, you have the ability to create portals anywhere you want. If someone wants to lock you into a dark room, you can create a new territory and escape from the dark room. It is not expensive to build a relay in Nostr, and it is very easy. The relay can also be used in ordinary smart run on the phone.
Controlling one relay does not affect other relays.
So, is Nostr just trying to be a decentralized Twitter?
Nostr's ambition: more than replacing Twitter
Alternative to Twitter
For the purpose of replacing Twitter, the client utilizes events of type 1, which are plain text notes. Some clients include: coracle, astral, nostr.ch, branle, damus, alphaama.com, Nostros, etc.
Like Damus, the creation of an alternative to Twitter
Alternative to Telegram
By using 4 X (X is a number between 0 and 9), a public channel like Telegram can be realized. For example, Anigma.io on the above homepage is a web application that realizes Telegram clone. You can create public channels where anyone can join and chat. In anigma, private end-to-end encrypted messages can be sent to users.
Alternative to Reddit
Nostr can also be used as an alternative to Reddit, where posts can be published and users can vote on these posts, such as the nvote of the large website image above
Another interesting use of nostr is to create simple multiplayer online games like Jeste, where you can play chess online with other users through Nostr.
text sharing
Sendstr is an online tool that allows you to share end-to-end encrypted text data between two devices via the nostr protocol.
secondary title1.2 Data about Nostr(Since Similar Web can only see the data on January 30th, this part is for reference only, and the focus should be on the data on February 1st)
, the location of Github is more eye-catching, and the information is mainly
On Github, so outbound traffic mostly goes to Github
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2.1 Damus
2. Damus's recent performance and transmission path
We talked about the Nostr protocol above, and then we talked about Damus: including collecting some comments on Reddit.
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On February 1, 2023, Jack Dorsey sent news about Damus being launched on the Apple Store and Google App Store, and then it exploded instantly. The author speculates that in addition to Jack’s celebrity effect, it was because the app came out on the mobile end. After all At present, most people in the world use the mobile terminal more frequently. In addition, the recent market performance is mediocre (compared with the hottest time last year). Therefore, such applications are easy to attract attention.The picture of Damus here I take the IOS system as an example: a decentralized Twitter that swipes the screen:
Also, note that:Public key (pubkey): As we said before, your address and username, everyone uses this to find you,
Most of them start with npub, don't make a mistake
Private Key:
This is your password and your wealth and life, please hide it well.
npub1v48npxhgy6u7ftft3r0q5nq7fkn7tqc6myws0zcx7k9xcjscq0js73pcnl
There is one more thing, that is, Logout=logout
Don't get too excited and click Delete Account
To find other users, you need to know their publickey: for example, mine is:Nostr Implementation PossibilitiesWelcome to add and make friends!
Here is a brief talk about the technical part, and friends who are interested can also go to Github to see:
Since Damus is built on the Nostr protocol, its operation needs to follow the requirements of Nostr, and then we can see that there is a NIP in the github document of Damus, which is
Acronym for Nostr-compatible relay and client software that must, should, and may implement
(That is, a series of rules and standards are defined). NIPs stand for Nostr Implementation Possibilities. They exist to document what MUST, what SHOULD and what MAY be implemented by Nostr-compatible relay and client software.
NIP-01: Basic protocol flow defines the basic rules and processes, field and message requirements, etc. that all users need to implement."e "and"p "NIP-08: Mentions Handling Mentions, mainly regulates the client's handling of other events in text_notes content and inline mentions of pubkeys
NIP-10: Reply conventions describes how to use in text events
tags, especially those that respond to other text events
https://github.com/damus-io/damus/blob/master/README.md
For details, please refer to the Github documentation:
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3. Regarding the use of Damus and the philosophical thinking behind it: Can you think about what this decentralization represents?secondary titleAfter all, "the world has been suffering for a long time"
①First of all,Damus' breaking circle represents an evolution, that is, our interaction is no longer limited by so-called "products", but based on protocols.How to understand this, even if I want others to know that I like reading books, this Tag will be marked on my head, and the private interface is still hidden. Therefore, the other party does not know my age, gender, and whether I am really a rabbit. That is, while socializing is achieved, the soul carrier, which is our body, is hidden.
②Secondly, the social networking of Web3 adopts the form of white list.
③
How to understand this, for example, I added you, and I told you that I am a rabbit and like to eat carrots,
There is no need for the so-called trust here (that is, you don’t need to know me). The social interaction oriented to the needs of Behaviors replaces the social interaction oriented to specific Object needs. How do you understand this? Traditional social interaction is people-oriented, which means I need to know first Who are you, then decide that I understand you, and then ask you for help.
And now, in the future, we will complete one thing, you help me change the code, and I will send you a painting, so here, the importance of blockchain and wallets is that they are the basis for subsequent interest flows, which is a A pure behavioral social model.
Does not exist Group A includes BCD members
Only BCD standalone object has tag A
④ There is no credit, no social relationship, only interaction, no so-called security and censorship, only history.4. If Damus wants to continue doing well, what is the problem? What problems still need to be solved?
① Product experience: I went to their Reddit and found that there are still many users who are not good at uploading avatars
Therefore, some doubts were raised. Therefore, the follow-up product experience is a big test. After all, the product experience is usually very good with today's mobile applications that have been polished by time and feedback.
Also, the habits and requirements of users will be relatively high, and no one will use a product that is not easy to use.
(If you have not uploaded your avatar here, you can use a website like postimage.org to upload a picture, then generate a link to the picture, and then copy the URL link to your Damus profile here (as shown below)
②About growth and retention
Discussing with instant friends yesterday, here's what I said:
Note that there is also a phenomenon-level social software Clubhouse in early 2021, which became popular under the influence of Musk and other celebrities, but it did not develop well afterwards.
In response to the short-lived Clubhouse, Tencent Research Institute published an article in 2021, which mentioned whether voice socialization is a potential demand of people?
(Reference: Clubhouse under the quadruple thinking, short-lived or disruptive innovation? - Tencent Research Institute 2021-02-20 1)
For example, when we look at the history of Internet applications, every technological application that has become a trend and trend has effectively solved a certain kind of human nature, such as:
Portals solve people's need for "one-stop" access to information; search engines solve people's barriers to choosing massive amounts of information;
Instant messaging solves people's needs for point-to-point communication anytime, anywhere;
Blogs solve people's need for self-recording and self-expression;
Self-media tools such as Weibo give the power of public information dissemination to every member of society, breaking the monopoly of information production and dissemination channels;
WeChat has solved people's social needs, and after ten years of development, it has achieved the ultimate in point-to-point private communication, "dividing people into groups" for socializing interests, and various needs expressed by the public in squares. From the perspective of advanced communication forms, social communication media is constantly upgraded from text, pictures to voice and then to video.
Voice socialization is a dimensionality reduction of communication methods. During the 2020 epidemic, China's biggest outlet is live streaming, and short video sites such as Douyin and Kuaishou have become industry darlings under the spotlight. People are thinking about how the next generation of interaction will spread after the live broadcast. Is it VR? Is it the holographic Internet? In 2021, Clubhouse will become popular relying on voice social networking. To some extent, it can be regarded as dimensionality reduction and backtracking in the form of communication. The threshold of communication interaction is lowered again, which provides more possibilities for social products.
So, what does Clubhouse rely on for subsequent content precipitation and user retention? At that time, the main attractions were celebrity interviews, high-quality topic discussions, invitation system with a certain sense of mystery and relatively high-quality high-end users, and the intimacy and sense of presence brought by direct voice conversations. Users are like attending a cocktail party, listening and browsing anywhere, stay to listen to and participate in speeches and discussions if they are interested in topics, and jump to the next room if they are not interested. However, despite the popularity of Clubhouse all over the world, it quickly became a forgotten product.
