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> — [rabble](nostr:npub1wmr34t36fy03m8hvgl96zl3znndyzyaqhwmwdtshwmtkg03fetaqhjg240)

A few days back, rabble posted a note and a blog post discussing the misconceptions about Nostr's inability to delete notes and his perception on how the issue should be approached.

You can read the blog post [here](nostr:naddr1qq2ksje3g9trxujpxymyxjjlg5ckjmmrtguyxqgdwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkcqgkwaehxw309aex2mrp0yhxummnw3ezucnpdejqz8rhwden5te0dehhxarj95crztnev94kj6r0dehx2tnrdaksygq0ytqxatqsqf5yalxx3atg2s8gxsk3vzw4pz7dgvfvqw8xr98ckcpsgqqqw4rstvd04e).

His thoughts prompted me to share my own thoughts on deleting stuff on the Internet in general and Nostr in particular. My note got some attention (lots by my meager standards 😆), reposts and comments so I thought it would be good to expand a bit more in this week's newsletter. *Make sure to check out my original note below and the responses. There were very good points made to support also the need to delete notes.*

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## The good old Internet

Before MySpace, Twitter, Facebook and the rest of the social media behemoths came around, the Internet was made of a bunch of decentralized services like IRC servers. You would connect to a server, chat with people, exchange files and know that once you post something, it's out there and completely out of your control.

The Internet is just amplifying the reach of your speech. You can't delete what is posted just like you can't unspeak what you have spoken.

> Posting something on the Internet is like peeing in the swimming pool. Once it's out, you can't take it back.

>

> — Old piece of wisdom passed over to me in the early years of the Internet

![]()

I took this advice to heart. And I drill it into my kids every day: **don't share with anyone anything that you wouldn't want splashed on all the high school screens**.

## My approach to deleting Tweets, notes, and other stuff

I don't understand the fear of not being able to delete notes.

Yes, now there is a permanent record of what you say and everyone can see it. It is the price, and the beauty, of having the Internet megaphone.

So use it wisely. Think twice before you post.

The inability to delete has the potential to make the Internet a better place. To get rid of all the bullshit that goes around elsewhere in centralized apps.

Sure it would had been nice to be able to edit tweets to correct misspellings but I believe that an Internet where you can't delete stuff is a better Internet.

I remember one time when I felt for a prank from an Ethereum Twitter user. He, and his followers, roasted me for days, reposting my tweet and having a blast at my expense. I was tempted to delete my tweet but I felt that that would had been an act of cowardice. Better to own my mistake and use all the scorn directed at me to learn the lesson.

## But what if I change my mind?

*But what if I change my mind and I don't agree any more with something I posted 5 years ago?*

Congratulations! You have grown! You have learned new things and now you have new perspectives on life and stuff.

> I pity those who agree with everything they have written on the Internet in the last 20 years.

Change is natural. Change is good. Your past posts are proof of your growth. Why would you want to delete them?

If sharing the fact that you have changed your mind scares you, if you'd rather delete an old post that admit that you were wrong, maybe you should take a deeper look within yourself.

And let me be clear, people who go back through your posts to find something damning that you said 5 or 10 years ago are at the very least stupid and most likely evil, driven by an ill will towards you. They are the problem, not your thoughts from 10 years ago.

## Deleting in Nostr

Like rabble says, you can mark a note as deleted. Some clients and relays may honor the request, some may not. You never know. Rabble's take is that by marking something for deletion you're signaling that you have grown, that you have changed your mind and that that note does not accurately capture your thoughts on the subject any longer.

I respectfully disagree. I think that posting a new note with your new thoughts is a better approach. You can even quote the old note to make sure that everyone knows what you're talking about. Because, for all purposes, you don't know if the note will ever be deleted anyway.

For me, the existence of the old note in conjunction with the new note signifies growth and that is what matters the most.

**Full disclosure**: when I decided to stop tweeting and focus on Nostr, I left the Twitter account inactive with the content still up. But after Twitter started requesting biometrics I realized that it was time to close the account and that had the effect of deleting everything: good (the few) and bad (the many) tweets alike.

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# Notable notes

nostr:note178tfxt6r98e4huv5d8vv7u8x0nkhclt0whcep3z8xutu9uuj4yuqf7syk6

nostr:note10558a40e25t42n7a94cwg68t4y4w0g44z240lqvqfkg6ddlfsr8sw5wudn

nostr:note1emj5lzys3vuenjvmdjtqmzlp90znq08w2f57p2t7xakm2t0rssfql2qhr9

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# Recommendations

## rabble

rabble has been working on censorship resistant social media for years. He was working on Planetary and scuttlebutt before switching to building on Nostr.

You can follow him [here](nostr:npub1wmr34t36fy03m8hvgl96zl3znndyzyaqhwmwdtshwmtkg03fetaqhjg240)

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## What did you think of today's newsletter?

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Please leave a comment and checkout comments from other subscribers and readers. I love hearing from the Bitcoin For Families community ❤️ 🙏🏻

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See you again next week!

— Alejandro

This newsletter is for educational purposes. It does not represent financial advice. Do your own research before buying Bitcoin.