Yeah, it’s a pull system, so you can pull whatever you want. Essentially, you can “follow” anyone without leaving any clear sign that you are following them.
We also have private follows, where the follow is encrypted with your key so only you can know you are following someone.
So when using avian carrier (microSD in backpack on carrier pigeon) or other sneaker net, a minimum of a full round trip is required to see updates. (Outgoing trip with pull requests, return trip with results.)
On SSB, you could publish a follow (bad for the evil govt scenario), and get regular updates without a pull request. Similarly on usenet. The tape cartridge would be preloaded with the current subscriptions when the carrier showed up. I wonder if there is a way to anonymously have standing pull requests?
All pulls can be anonymous; you don't have to AUTH to most relays to request data and there is nothing identifying your pubkey as the one requesting it.
