Only relays retain posts, your client fetches posts from the relays you are connected to. If you post something, you push it to the relays you are connected to. If someone posts something and Is connected to relays you aren’t, then you won’t see those posts. If a relay deletes a post and it is the only one you and the poster are connected to, you won’t see the post, but the post is still on relays the poster was connected to, if not deleted on those too :)
Discussion
On the relay forever? Or until some expiration date? And would that include what Damus considers a DM?
‘Forever’, as long as the node exists. Yes, same for DM’s, only that those are encrypted and only the participants can read those.
So storage requirements continue to grow. Seems like a problem for relay owners.
Yes, but its just text, so it is not that much. Also you could set up a relay for your friends and family, it would only store their and your content i.e. but also on all the other relays everyone is connected to.