Nostr is an open protocol that enables decentralized and censorship-resistant social media.
Here’s a lighthearted introduction, and an easy way to see it in action is to go to the Primal home page. This is a web app version of Nostr.
Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, endorsed and financially supported the development of Nostr.
Here’s the Nostr introduction:
Nostr is a protocol, designed for simplicity, that aims to create a censorship-resistant global social network. Let’s unpack that a little:
Simple
The protocol is based on very simple & flexible event objects (which are passed around as plain JSON) and uses standard elliptic-curve cryptography for keys and signing. The only supported transport is websockets connections from clients to relays. This makes it easy to write clients and relays and promotes software diversity.
Resilient
Because Nostr doesn’t rely on a small number of trusted servers for moving or storing data, it’s very resilient. The protocol assumes that relays will disappear and allows users to connect and publish to an arbitrary number of relays that they can change over time.
Verifiable
Because Nostr accounts are based on public-key cryptography it’s easy to verify messages were really sent by the user in question.
Like HTTP or TCP-IP, Nostr is a protocol; an open standard upon which anyone can build. Nostr is not an app or service that you sign up for.
Nostr Apps
Some Nostr apps are still in the process of development. Here’s a list of promising apps:
- Plebstr (iOS and Android) is a popular Nostr app right now
- Primal (web) is a promising Nostr client — currently only available on the web — mobile apps in development
- Damus (iOS, iPad, and MacOS) is a Nostr app that comes with an integrated Lightning Wallet
- Iris (iOS, Android, and web)
- Current (iOS and Android)
- Snort is an easy-to-use client with great onboarding
- Coracle is an experimental client that is advancing the UX and internals of social media
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