Relays can be selective about the type of content they host, or even limit their hosting to specific enumerated identities. Most don’t do this at present (except for spam mitigation) because the network is too small to worry about it. There’s also no rule against expiring and deleting “old” content.
As for data volume, incoming relay data comes from users who choose where they publish, not from federated relays (as with Fediverse servers), so the traffic growth should be somewhat different from how things have played out with Mastodon hosts. I’d like to see a citation for that 98% number if you have it! Worst case, individual relays can limit themselves to registered identities or hold content for only a brief period.
I think that this flexibility will lead to a more robust network than the Fediverse, with some relay operators curating the type of content they host, with others going for a wide but shallow approach. Meanwhile users will be able to cross-publish to whatever relays allow them. If a node drops off the network, the content is not lost, and the original events can always be republished if that’s ever needed.
As for data volume, incoming relay data comes from users who choose where they publish, not from federated relays (as with Fediverse servers), so the traffic growth should be somewhat different from how things have played out with Mastodon hosts. I’d like to see a citation for that 98% number if you have it! Worst case, individual relays can limit themselves to registered identities or hold content for only a brief period.
I think that this flexibility will lead to a more robust network than the Fediverse, with some relay operators curating the type of content they host, with others going for a wide but shallow approach. Meanwhile users will be able to cross-publish to whatever relays allow them. If a node drops off the network, the content is not lost, and the original events can always be republished if that’s ever needed.