NOSTR is cool because it is a protocol that came after the platform…
And as I type this, it dawns on me that in many ways all protocols are too. Protocols are anchored solutions to real world problems.
You’ve likely heard that TCP/IP or email are protocols that came first and the platforms came after. But is that case? The problem/need always looking to be solved was light speed communication en masse. And we had pony express, postal service, radio, telephone. All were platform iterations to solving this problem with the best means of the day. Humanity hadn’t quite arrived at the moment for the protocol to emerge.
Until it arrives. Then instead platforms looking for a protocol, platforms are built upon the protocol.
Bitcoin as protocol solves the needs of money. Most platforms expressed prior to it was attempting to solve this problem in the best way with the capability of the time. (I count FIAT as a malicious hijacking of this core need).
NOSTR is that echo from a deep need to weave our social fabric across all identity strata globally. The platforms leading up to of which were the public square, the corner pub, the centralized media/social media platforms.
And again thinking out loud here, it would seem that platforms begin organically and evolve over time becoming centralized forms before a protocol finally emerges that fully liberates the need trying to be solved and doing it in a decentralized and open way.
What protocols await us that liberate longstanding needs and frees them from centralized walled gardens of control? We might find them in the platforms we currently use that remain in centralized control.
I’m just musing out loud and would love to hear your input and reflections 🙏🏼