I’m not sure follow to unfollow strategies count as valued engagement.

when nostr was relatively spamless on the open relays new users got scooped up and attacked with love more than I’ve seen on any social network.

I do believe relays should be paid (even more than we pay now). I think relays picked up slack when the clients were in early development and a ton (and still do) on their plate, by solving this issue externally, and it was a good reason to pay for a relay, aside from the principle of paying for something you consume. Im not sure it’s the right solution for spam, and that might be solved by the client in a way that would also surface these new users much better.