nostr apps can’t also respond to algorithm manipulation in real time, and so there is a large delay between “someone exploited this” and “a majority of users have the fix”

The wot solution is that there is no singular metric for validation. Yes each can be gamed, but wot developers also have to accomidate the current gamable metrics while also forgetting about outdated (bevause of gameability) metrics. The recycling multiply-coexisting and changing algorithms is what makes the system robust.