Anything can be a graph database. Even relational databases are one form of graph. We don’t need large, unnecessarily complicated tools to solve the Nostr graph problem.
What does Neo4j bring to the table compared to standard Nostr filters that makes it so useful? That it makes complicated queries look cheap and easy?
A graph database is one of the most general types of databases (even more than RDBMS) and is by consequence one of the hardest to optimize.
It simply does not make sense for Nostr, where purpose specific databases can allow for graph like queries but much more optimized for the use case (and unlock new capabilties due to that).
That you can place Nostr events in it in a form that is natural and organic. That you can let the data form itself into the structures that emerge organically by the network that creates it. And that it gives you the right tools to find things you couldn't imagine before you started.
That is why graph data is powerful, and why it outstrips tables and other databases in my mind. There's power in it's inefficiency because you can build on it indefinitely. You set yourself up to build things you can't imagine instead of constraining yourself to what you're building today.
A product is no good if it is too expensive to run or use.
What *can you really do* with graphs that you can’t do with REQs, even if multiple of them?
