Quick question, I have heard every argument imaginable for why the #block feature is needed on #X and other providers…
Can someone give me an honest answer of why they believe they aren’t needed?
I don’t know what I’m missing but I’d like to understand both sides #nostr
Yes, I kind of understand why it’s not a thing here. I have a pretty good idea anyway.
They may, IMO, be believing that blocking users preclude the free flow af arguments and opinions.
What they are not seeing is that in the present time some people are simply unable to participate in any serious discussion w/o a rant, and this is why the block is needed.
The only argument I’ve heard is that without block there is no function to censor someone, that a central entity might exploit somehow later.
Kind of weak imo
Block isn't real, since it can always be circumvented. It's a lazy way to remove people from your audience. As in real life, you can't control the actions of others, you can only control your own actions. The affordances we have for protecting ourselves in the digital world are limited by the nature of communication and cryptography.
Of course anyone can spin up a new account and continue harassing someone, but it’s one more layer of protection, to at least tire some fraction of bad actors
If blocking is so limited to begin with, why not just have it then 🤷🏻♂️
Because it's impossible in a decentralized protocol
You can block on mastodon, nostr relays have been able to filter traffic too
Why not here? I’m not technical so I could be missing something
Mastodon is federated (many-centered), not decentralized. Relays can block stuff here too, but a relay blocking something does not block that thing for its users, unless they only use that relay.
Could you have a network of relays voluntarily adhere to a blocklist?
This conversation is probably outside of my pay grade. 😩😂
Example: So you will probably block porn or illegal content on the Christian options on Nostr correct? Or will you allow porn accounts to spam users?
Spam is (partly) solved by muting, because they want your attention, and you can simply deny them that using various tools for classifying content as undesirable. Harassment isn't solved by muting because they want other people's attention as well as yours.
But yes, Christian relays can (and should) block porn.
Talk about your 2016 world Star hip hop video https://nostr.build/av/e964fa4cb95999e8e1faa5909f2d354dabb65e5037d106555dff62674aea9d57.mov
Blocking is censoring. It is denying a person their voice. Muting simply hides them from your feed but does not limit the other person's voice.
Think of it this way - mute is like you putting in earplugs. Blocking is like you muzzling someone.
If you had 100k followers on Nostr and if everyone who engaged with your account got spammed with an impersonation account of you with a shitcoin what would you do?
If it was illegal content depicting children what would you do?
I’m just asking.
As a user, that sort of moderation isn't my purview. I curate my feed by following the content I want to see and mute the content I explicitly don't. Follower count is irrelevant, everyone is responsible for their own feed.
If something is illegal or spammy, I believe that's up to the relays to handle and filter. If you feel relays are censoring your content, then switch relays or start your own. Same to users who feel a relay is broadcasting content you don't want to see.
In this way, all users, good or bad, have agency over their own voice. Say what you want, but if no one wants to hear you and everyone mutes you, you can still shout into the void to your heart's content.
This isn't a perfect system. But imo it's better than Elon or some other central figure sitting up high dictating what I can or cannot see or hear. With great power comes great responsibility. If one can't handle that responsibility, then they can go cuck themselves on X. Put the responsibility and rights on someone else.
I agree that the old system is broken. Good points. Completely broken.
When I speak about follower amounts I’m just really thinking about scale. When Nostr is used by more folks I just try to think about issues that will pop up. I do believe in protecting your own space. If you don’t have the tools to protect your own space then it isn’t really going to end up as social media…. It will end up being a private group chat on a personal relay with friends. That would be fine btw. I think about bigger problems because I want Nostr to be used by as many as possible globally.
It’s better to talk about this type of stuff now. 💜
