I vaguely recall something about key signing parties. That could be a model.

Or maybe I'm thinking about key parties.

I was never into either community. I'm probably confused.

Friends and family IRL. Ironically, we're all separated by a few degrees.

"Hey person, will you vouch for my bot account for $100?"

That brings up a good point. Let's say I am the founder and I send out my first 5 invites to the "highest quality" people I know. In this case "highest quality" is people who wouldn't be susceptible to bribes. Assuming that at the start of the invites, I have a certain set of standards, how would you propogate those standards forward over time? Is decay inevitable with growth?

lobste.rs is what you're looking for