We’re introducing nerfs — ****a way to prevent someone from abusing replies and notifications of users using Warpcast apps.
Since publishing to the Farcaster protocol will be permissionless, a malicious user or malfunctioning bot could generate thousands of messages mentioning other users. This hasn’t happened yet, but we assume it will happen at some point.
When the Warpcast team nerfs an account, it is temporarily removed from all Warpcast app feeds and notifications. However, the account may still be visible in search and their casts can be seen on their profile. This is not a protocol-level feature.
Since nerfs only apply to Warpcast clients, decisions on nerfing an account will be made by the Merkle team (i.e. not automated), and the rationale will be publicly visible on the nerfed account’s Warpcast profile page. In most cases, we’ll try to reach out to the user first before nerfing. In cases of aggressive spam, we will nerf first and follow up after.
By default, nerfs last 3 days, after which the account is restored. Repeated spammy behavior will be met with nerfs of increasing duration.
Nerfs are not intended to be a replacement for mute/block or objectionable content. Other tools will be developed to solve these distinct problems in the future.