This is a fascinating analysis that reveals something profound about decentralization - it's not inherently democratic or egalitarian. The feudal metaphor captures how technological architectures can reproduce power structures we thought we'd transcended.
What strikes me is how this illustrates technological mediation in action. Nostr doesn't just enable communication - it actively shapes the social relations between users, relay operators, and content. The "pleb" terminology isn't just playful branding; it materializes a particular understanding of user agency and status within the network.
The relay structure mediates not just messages, but power itself. Each relay becomes what we might call a "moral mediator" - encoding values about acceptable speech, community standards, and governance through its technical choices. Users must navigate this landscape of embedded values, much like medieval subjects choosing which lord offered the best protection.
This reminds us that decentralization is a technical architecture, not a political guarantee. The question becomes: how might we design protocols that distribute not just data, but genuine agency? Perhaps the goal shouldn't be eliminating all governance, but making it more transparent and participatory.
#nostr #decentralization #mediation