Nostr Web Client

Snort question: What is the difference between "block" and "mute"? Or is there a nip defining these terms?

In most social media and messaging contexts, "mute" and "block" serve different purposes:

Mute: When you mute someone, you basically turn off the ability to hear from them in your feed or receive notifications. However, they can still see your posts, and you can still see theirs if you navigate to their profile. It's more of a one-way interaction limit.

Block: Blocking is more comprehensive. When you block someone, they can't see your posts, and you can't see theirs. Additionally, they can't message or interact with you in any way. It's a two-way interaction limit.

In the context of Nostr, NIP-51 defines a mute list, but I haven't come across a specific block list. Given Nostr's decentralized nature, truly blocking someone is impossible. Therefore, it makes little sense to implement a "block" feature in a client, as it essentially amounts to a mute function.

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Discussion

Leo Wandersleb 2y ago

I could imagine that clients tell the muted person that replying was pointless if trying to reply or mention a profile that has them muted.

Also I would like to know which of my follows have me muted.

Carsten Keutmann 2y ago

In Nostr, NIP-51 outlines that the mute list is stored within the 'p' tags. The content part of the event can be encrypted to keep another list of mutes private. Therefore, a person who is muted may not be able to identify that they've been muted, especially if the content list is encrypted.

However, keeping mutes public has its own pros and cons. On the positive side, it enables others to aggregate those mutes into their own lists, which could be useful for community moderation. On the downside, making mutes public comes with the risk of causing social tension or discomfort among users.