Nostr will fail to the extent that people can't tell an impersonator from the real thing. The number of reports I get about my impersonator indicates to me that nostr is failing. But it doesn't have to be this way! Web of trust fixes this.
Let's play a game of "spot the impersonator". I created a fresh impersonator account with a valid NIP 05 from nostrplebs and all the same profile data. I didn't bother to clone my notes or create a bunch of sock puppet followers, but that could easily be done, and would improve the resemblance.
Coracle:
https://hbr.coracle.social/d0088375c6d3f408533ede1d41e57955041748a0028fdc34ad8ef27997af4729.png
Pretty good if I do say so myself. Social trust is shown in two separate ways: web of trust indicator and followers tab (although followers is not complete or sybil resistant).
0xchat:
https://hbr.coracle.social/1db0daf3bd5fa40f0e1bb428407fae93b3fc8d6915bf902d9be8672794c2494b.png
Exactly the same, other than NIP 05 address, which I don't consider any sort of validation at all. This is a classic phishing maneuver, and recently allowed nostr:nprofile1qyfhwumn8ghj7am0wsh82arcduhx7mn99uqjzamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwwd5xzamw09jkzem9wghxxmmd9a5kucn00qqjqamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwwd5xzamw09jkzem9wghxxmmd9a3ksct5qy38wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnndpshwmnev4skwetj9e3k7mf0da6hgcn00qqjxamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwwd5xzamw09jkzem9wghxxmmd9ac8y6tkv96x2qpqclk6vc9xhjp8q5cws262wuf2eh4zuvwupft03hy4ttqqnm7e0jrqlg4lcf's impersonator to trick some people.
Yakihonne:
https://hbr.coracle.social/9f47c1610244b9934de4db3ef9b414bd09480686b0cd996f8afa9c95040a8957.png
Some social indicators are shown, but are not sybil resistant. They're also down the page a bit, and might not be noticed by users.
Jumble:
https://hbr.coracle.social/8413e06dede55f08416faa934f35c77c3e098fbc1e00cf7756dd36351ceb4001.png
No social proof indicated at all — the tabs at the bottom can easily be faked by the impersonator.
Nostter:
https://hbr.coracle.social/7b368e6e8fd722e5998cf7f6c6aee6b1c9c75b24ef86463500db24e97f452051.png
No social proof, and failed to validate the NIP 05 for the real user.
Nostrudel:
https://hbr.coracle.social/bb9a937abd6258ede943c289367c2126d3171f1d1dc1c1f06c1ee85cd297a50b.png
Nostrudel does something original in showing the public key color. But how often are you going to memorize a user's color? I'd argue this is even worse than nothing because it obscures the NIP 05, which _might_ tip you off.
Iris:
https://hbr.coracle.social/0a4f2f1a6196bed96d8ca0ed02fb6d7500b515c6b89cb725b542882144e9a19b.png
Iris shows wot-vetted "known followers", which is good. In other places, a wot-based check mark is shown next to user avatars. This should probably be added to the profile page too, but still, pretty good.
Amethyst:
https://hbr.coracle.social/379d5d2f629b77cf7bc5936a1567ca925d070f565587178341ccab4a0b61001b.png
Amethyst shows some social proof, but it's hard to tell exactly what those profile pictures mean.
Primal:
https://hbr.coracle.social/61a08689f9bfb57b6387772feee7592f9fd2bf62eb622d858343ac45abd726dc.png
Like yakihonne, social proof is visible, but not sybil-resistant.
Let's take a look at search now. Some clients do a much better job at this, some do a MUCH worse job.
Coracle:
https://hbr.coracle.social/646e814eaa3495741c6a85cec5240c6057a972b34542a5ee8192bd89cc62523b.png
WOT indicators, correct sorting, complete results. Arguably, the impersonators should be filtered out entirely, but I personally prefer to have them included.
Jumble:
https://hbr.coracle.social/1ba88073a1d9c96737ccb9ae3fdd5303f8a7e4e38649a2c5d063e1ff5d71797d.png
Same thing, minus WOT indicators. Not bad.
Nostrudel:
https://hbr.coracle.social/87ea3587f69512a2e88e9e1751e31b8e0d1f9f29bf48f536eb5c93794727bcff.png
It's a pass, but I'm not sure if duplicates are filtered out on purpose or not. The check marks indicate NIP 05 validation, not wot validation.
Yakihonne:
https://hbr.coracle.social/7013babfd7b324aa4628716fff989b443c1a7ea4a98dafd4c126fd4d177e5883.png
Only shows the legit version, along with a badge (I'm unsure if it's NIP 05 or something else). Pretty good.
Iris:
https://hbr.coracle.social/89337ce8320c9cc4d2714caf343f77a66933458353d59d13653fb71070648140.png
Very limited results, WOT-based check, pretty good.
Primal:
https://hbr.coracle.social/ef25d3cd33c0e902c200bc8d04a809e1aff047bd233d091bd108f436028cc2cc.png
Eliminates impersonators, show follower count, pretty good (though not sybil resistant in all cases).
The winners are Iris and Coracle for web of trust indicators, and Primal and Yakihonne in the "global view of the network" category. I'd love to see this get better though, and not just because I am now famous enough to have an impersonator. WOT calculations are low-hanging fruit, especially with the vertex DVM by nostr:nprofile1qythwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnswf5k6ctv9ehx2ap0qyt8wumn8ghj7ct4w35zumn0wd68yvfwvdhk6tcpzemhxue69uhk6mr9dd6juun9v9k8jtnvdakz7qg4waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t09uq3wamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwdehhxarj9e3xzmny9uqzpa5rapcrtaadfazwpwvvl0v4xlskg4df9nfcem7yevcaka2h7hhjm9zju5 around. Getting this right is a core value proposition of nostr and is worth the effort.
New accounts have ALWAYS had trouble getting visibility, even before WoT.
Why? Because no one uses Global feeds. They only see posts from those they follow in their home feed. As a result, when new users come to Nostr, they post a few times, get next to no engagement, and leave. That has always been the case.
WoT is a very useful tool, though, when searching for a specific account, and you don't want to end up getting shown a fake. It's also useful for combating spam. Yes, this does create another hurdle for new users to get over before they can get any traction here, but frankly new users are more likely to be spammers than established users, too. No matter what spam mitigation method we use, it is going to adversely affect new users more than others.
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