A mind dump about Smol (and Spartan) Web
I've decided to just do a wee mind dump here summarising my feelings about the smolweb when I discovered it and such-like.
Ever since I've discovered Gemini, Gopher, and the SmolWeb in general, I feel a lot happier in life.
I might even go as far as to say getting into Gopher, Gemini and BBS was one of the best things I've ever done, as I've found an actual community I fit in with! That's super rare!
In fact, in general, and I'm going to do this film's plot (and message) a serious injustice, the deep web *kind of* like The Beach, where they find this secret island. Few know how to get there, and those that do find a personal paradise, bordered with a cannabis farm ran by dangerous people with AR rifles.
That farm is the Dark Web, and is a place that should, imo, be avoided at all costs, but beyond that, you have the beach, which in this analogy would be the SmolWeb, with Gopher, Gemini, Telnet and Finger (Among Others), where it's just a small area that like-minded people hang out, and just have fun!
Only difference here is there's nothing going on behind the scenes as far as I know. They're not perfect, but they've invoked a sense of joy and thrill with going on the internet that I've never felt in years!
Of course, the SmolWeb isn't designed to replace the clearweb, and we sometimes need to go back there to get essentials or to get help with the SmolWeb (Like in the film), but we find our way back. The SmolWeb is like our home, an open, but seldom known home for geeks and retro lovers like myself to hang out and get away from the boring, corporate hellhole that the World Wide Web has become.
As for the clearnet, we have Neocities and Wiby.me, which create a space on there for fowk to go crazy with personal and fan sites, and equipped with more modern technology, the sites people have made are nothing short of incredible! Some call this "The Spartan Web", I'll provide a link for more info below.
I've also noticed that since I've been exploring Gemini and Gopher, my habits in general have changed. Before, in bed, I used to always browsed Reddit and watched videos on Youtube, but now I barely, if ever, touch those apps. Not out of spite or anything, but because I genuinely have no interest in them. I spend most of my time at night browsing Gemini now.
When I first started, I always used Remini, which is a mirror of Reddit. I guess it was because I wanted something to "anchor" me to the clearnet as I browse the uncharted territories of Geminispace. Either that, or wanted an excuse, any excuse, to keep coming back to Gemini, and I know I can spend time on Reddit here.
Either way, I don't even go on that any more. Nowadays, I go to Station, check on new posts here, and explore a bit, finding out about all kinds of stuff, and I much prefer doing that over browsing mindlessly through social media...
So yeah, just a wee entry letting out my joy about theses discoveries. I'm having fun online again!
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