So, how does a new, non-bot person ever break into the network? Suppose I don't want my pseudonym connected to anything where someone might follow me by name recognition. Would you even be able to see this reply?
While everyone is getting nervous about spam, say hello to Chronicle!
https://github.com/dtonon/chronicle
Chronicle is Nostr personal relay, built on the Khatru framework, that stores complete conversations in which the owner has taken part and nothing else: pure signal.
This is possible since writing is limited to the threads in which the owner has partecipated (either as an original poster or with a reply/zap/reaction), and only to his trusted network (WoT), to protect against spam.
Chronicle fits well in the Outbox model, so you can use it as your read/write relay, and it also automatically becomes a space-efficient backup relay.
Try it out, and let me know if you find it useful and how it can be improved!
Discussion
Good question: you need an open relay for that, this currently is the only easy way to "infiltrate" the web of trust.
There are other possible solutions, such as whitelist notes with some PoW, or create an invite mechanism, but they all require some form of agreement by the clients.
By the way this is a limit of all WoT relays. I'm planning to make the WoT check optional and add other filters (keywords, pow, nip-05).
This should help to have a more flexible configuration, still keeping a good amount of protection.