On February 2, 2023, a string starting with “npub” started spreading quietly on various social apps. To my memory, this doesn’t seem to be the first time, people start to get curious and ask questions and flock to a product.
This article aims to introduce the relevant information behind the string to professionals in the tech industry and share my views. I hope to meet the curiosity of some readers and friends, and also welcome everyone to express their own opinions and have a rational discussion together.
1. Behind the String
Programming industry professionals should deduce that this is a “public key” string when they see a string starting with “npub”, and it should be related to some encryption technology product. In fact, this is the case. The product behind this string is the social network application “Damus” based on the Nostr protocol. The product has gone through twists and turns and finally succeeded in launching on the iOS platform yesterday (February 2, 2023), and shortly after the launch, a large number of users registered.
What makes Damus so attractive? To answer this question, we need to know the Nostr protocol behind the product and understand what opportunities the protocol provides for us.
1.1 The nostr protocol
The Nostr protocol is an acronym for “Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays”[1], a data transfer protocol that transmits text and other types of resources through relays and protects data security through cryptographic keypairs.
The key concepts of the protocol are relays and cryptographic keypairs, which will be introduced respectively below.
The function of a relay is similar to a server, responsible for storing data and providing data reading services. However, unlike a server, it is not privately owned by any organization or individual, and anyone on the network can set up a relay on their own device to provide services to others. This means that any application based on the Nostr protocol is decentralized, and its content cannot be deleted in theory.
Cryptographic keypairs are a common digital encryption technology that encrypts data by retaining private keys and publicizing public keys, ensuring that data is not tampered with (HTTPS also uses this technology). In Damus, even private keys are used to identify personal IDs, meaning you don’t need to provide an email, or phone number, or register through a third-party social account.
From the above introduction, you should be able to feel that Nostr protocol, like other cutting-edge applications of the same era, is based on the idea of decentralization, trying to build a strongly encrypted P2P-like network to avoid the forced censorship, advertisement tax [Appendix 4.1], and shadow ban [Appendix 4.2] brought by a central server management mechanism.
1.2 Damus Based on Nostr
Now you should understand that Damus is a product based on Nostr, which means that Damus inherits the decentralization concept of Nostr. From Damus’ official website, you can see the following features that Damus claims to have:
- Decentralization: means your data will not be reviewed, or deleted, and in theory, it will be permanently preserved;
- End-to-end encryption: means your information is unlikely to be obtained or tampered with by third parties;
- No registration required: By authenticating identity ID based on a private key, you don’t need to provide any personal information to register an account (on the other hand, this also implies that the server may be subject to witch attacks [Appendix 4.3]);
- Programmable: you can integrate Damus into your application through API;
- Cryptocurrency supported: you can use blockchain currency to pay for your favorite authors or content.
As you can see, Damus is a fusion product of nostr + blockchain currency technology so far. Its target consumer groups are:
- Cryptocurrency users;
- Centralized review haters.
In addition, it should be noted that Damus is not the only product based on nostr. More related products can be found at this link.
2. My thoughts on Damus
Since the rise of blockchain, the concept of “decentralization” has been repeatedly mentioned in the internet industry and investment community, and related products have emerged one after another. To a certain extent, the concept of decentralization has become the spiritual core of the disputed Web3.0 world. This reflects the dissatisfaction of a considerable number of people with the strict content review mechanisms and industry monopolies under the current centralized system.
In this regard, Damus and similar decentralized product solutions have their user base and, from the implementation of product features, various technical infrastructure under the decentralization trend is becoming mature and can support a mature decentralized “parity” product based on cryptocurrency.
From Damus’s launch, it quickly attracted many users to register through word of mouth, ranking 10th in US iOS social network apps and even appearing with sensational media reports such as “the end of Twitter”, the market and media have a positive attitude towards this decentralized “parity” product.
Although everything seems to be developing in a positive direction, I think there are still some potential risks worth paying attention to.
2.1 Policy Risk
It is undeniable that people today live in a network environment with a sound and mature review mechanism, which has both advantages and disadvantages, and the pros and cons are clear. Although decentralization has gradually become a minority but powerful trend from a concept, the development status of various decentralized products shows that the lack of policy or conflict with some policies of some countries and platforms still makes the product have a stable development environment.
In addition, even if we do not consider the policies that are in conflict with the product, policy-making itself also has its inertia and lag, for example, Damus CEO claims that although Damus has fully met all the regulations of the App Store, the product launch time was also delayed for several weeks compared to expectations. We all know that Internet products emphasize agility, and policy risk undoubtedly will hinder this agility.
2.2 Insufficient Core Users
The Internet industry has no novelty, we have seen too many bright and shiny products that rise from the sky, but after a short time, they fade into history and no longer attract attention. Therefore, to consider a product’s vitality, we might as well follow the first principle and think about what user pain points the product actually solves. I think there are two points:
- Avoiding censorship: censorship systems such as shadow bans can be frustrating for creators, but on the other hand, the level of concern about censorship depends on the looseness or tightness of a country or region’s censorship mechanism and the creative intent and mentality of the creator. From this perspective, how many creators are willing to switch to the Damus platform because there is no censorship, and how many creators are willing to continue to publish high-quality content on Damus to attract more users? The answer to this question is crucial for the future development of the product.
- Providing cryptocurrency payment methods: currency only has value when it circulates, and after NFT, Damus provides another place for various cryptocurrencies to circulate. But the question here is whether cryptocurrencies themselves are sufficiently secure and reliable, which is still a widely discussed issue. So, how far can platforms settle through cryptocurrencies? It is still unknown.
So, I think the core users of Damus should be creators who dislike censorship systems and users of cryptocurrencies (or both), but how many such users are there? And how high is the quality of creation? This determines the future development height of the product.
2.3 Functionality flaws
Currently, Damus does not support direct uploading of images, and when using images, you need to use image links. The delete message function also has bugs. Of course, for a product that has just been launched, perhaps we should not be so harsh. But from the principle of nostr, how to prevent negative and malicious information, how to prevent witch attacks, and other key issues that affect user experience and the normal development of the product, still need to be explored.
In theory, creating in products based on the nostr protocol means that there is no concept of “deletion”, as the internet always has memory. As humans are creatures that grow and change with time, their thoughts and beliefs may change dramatically over the years, but due to Damus’ remarkable memory, creators may still fall into the predicament of being criticized by a relay service provider who brings up old articles. Whether creators are willing to bear such a risk is a matter of personal preference.
3. Summary
he above is a brief introduction and some thoughts on the recently emerged decentralized social product — Damus. In general, like any new product, it is fresh and interesting but not perfect. Its ultimate success can only be judged by time.
By understanding Damus, we can maintain our sensitivity to the Internet industry and consciously train our product logic and business thinking. We may not become active users of a product, but always keeping up with the latest industry trends and grasping the pulse of the industry is a necessary skill for every internet professional. I hope you find it useful, and I welcome your opinions in the comments section. Thank you for reading.
3.1 Some thought questions
- Would you be willing to freely give up your device’s computing resources and act as a “relay” for the product?
- If the articles you post can never be deleted, will this encourage you to create, or will you think twice before speaking out? Will your choice change when you are sure that no one can correspond to you in real life?
Looking forward to your reply.
4. Appendix
4.1. Ad tax
Free is the most expensive.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Most free commercial applications generate business profits by pushing ads. In this process, the creator’s creation provides an opportunity for the user to be attracted to advertising, which in turn leads to consumer behavior, while the consumer, in turn, is forced to consume their own attention or money to read or purchase the products recommended by the advertisement while freely reading the content that interests them. I call this model the “invisible ad tax” of the free content platform.
Please note that I do not fully agree that the ad tax is in a disadvantageous position morally. After all, platform operation requires funding, so the morality of ad tax collection depends on the specific situation.
4.2 Shadow Ban
Shadow ban, also known as secret blocking or throttling, is a method of moderating users in a network community. When a platform shadow bans a user, it is often difficult for the user to detect that their posted content is only visible to themselves, thereby suppressing the spread of information.
For more information, see wiki.
4.3 Sybil Attack
A Sybil attack is a type of attack in which an attacker creates multiple fake identity accounts and masquerades as a unique user in order to carry out a targeted intention, such as a DDOS attack.
For more information, see wiki
