Microblogging in Geminispace
Initial Discovery
In what seems to be true Gemini fashion (I'm assuming, because I'm new here), I was hopping from capsule to capsule and kept seeing things about Tinylog and twtxt and pikkulogs. Being that this is Gemini, I of course had to jump over to Gemini search and start sifting through the results to try and figure out what these things are. But also being Gemini, the search is part of the adventure and if you don't like that kind of thing, then Gemini might not be for you (I'm saving the centralization of Gemini discussion for a later gemlog). What I found was that:
- These are all microblogging services
- They are somewhat competing with one another
- Each have their own benefits
I'll start with what seems to be the oldest, pikkulog, but first lets have a general reminder of what a microblog is in the first place.
Microblogs
Microblogs are just as they sound - quick notes or updates that don't warrant an entire long form entry, like this one. Think Twitter.
Due to the way Gemini is structured, these microblogs are not centralized but are instead simple text files (sometimes gemtext) hosted by individuals themselves. All posts are in chronological order (but don't have to be), with some being limited to a certain character count. In some instances these are picked up by various tools or aggregators to form a typical timeline that you would see on something like Twitter.
Pikkulog
A quick search brings up @solderpunk's pikkulog [1]. Judging by the dates, Solderpunk hasn't updated since December 2020. However, Solderpunk describes it as:
A little gemlog for short and less formal things, and for replies to happenings in Geminispace. Mostly in English, maybe sometimes in very bad Finnish.
And further down we see the source [3]:
Inspired by Shufei's Weiphlog
So it seems that Shufei might be the originator of such microblogging. Admittedly, this may only be because the creator of Gemini (Solderpunk) ended up using it, but nonetheless, folks in the Geminiverse took to writing these microblogs.
One interesting part is the translation of each microblog name. Shufei calls it:
The 微phlog (Weiphlog)
Which, when translated via DuckDuckGo [4] shows that it's Chinese Simplified for "small". Additionally, if you translate "pikku" from Solderpunk's Pikkulog [5], we find that it's Finnish for "little". This leads me to the next section, Tinylog.
[1] @Solderpunk pikkulog index
[2] Solderpunk June 2020 Pikkulog
Tinylog
Tinylog has an RFC [6] set out for it to define a common structure. Although "[t]he original idea and most "rules" comes from Drew/uoou/Friendo['s]" Lace script [7], Bacardi55 has formally defined the structure which allows for easier aggregation.
Tinylog:
- Is Gemtext
- Is defined by an RFC
- Has tools for consuming/reading, subscribing, and aggregating/publishing
- Is supported by Station microblogging/socialization platform [8] for every user
- Is supported by Pollux.Casa capsule hosting service
- Has a list of known tinylogs, but may not be comprehensive (Station isn't included)
I want to emphasize the first point - while twtxt is plaintext, Tinylogs are Gemtext, and thus can be read by *any* Gemini client natively, in whatever native format that client renders (i.e., Lagrange rendering vs Kristall, for example).
GTL
The primary tool to consume and subscribe to tinylogs is called GTL [9]. GTL is a command-line program that a UI mode that's enabled by default. I've yet to put it through the paces, but after you figure out the keybindings, you simply find a tinylog that you want to subscribe to (via Bacardi55's list, or on Station, or simply stumbling upon one (via search or otherwise). Once subscribed, GTL will interleave the posts by date into a timeline for you.
- Pros: gives you a way to see only the newest updates for tinylogs of which you subscribe; runs in the commandline
- Cons: runs in the commandline: is a separate tool from your browser, so using from your mobile isn't really an option without SSH'ing into somewhere; there could be an easier way to find tinylogs, but maybe this is part of the essence of Gemini: doing the search
Lace
It's also worth mentioning here that Lace, the original script, could also be used.
Pollux.casa
Pollux.casa, a capsule hosting service, also offers tinylog support in the form of pollux.casa cockpit [11]
Finding tinylogs
- Search engine
- Bacardi55's list of known tinylogs [10]
- Station [8]
- Pollux.Casa [11]
- Stumbling upon one
- Asking fellow geminauts
[6] Tinylog RFC on Codeberg by Bacardi55
[7] Lace script - interleaves microblogs
[8] Station social microblogging platform
[10] Bacardi55's list of known tinylogs
twtxt
At it's core, twtxt is simply a plaintext file that has timestamps and 140 character blog entries. It first got its start on the internet, supposedly for/by "hackers", but has since been absorbed by Geminiverse. Some folks are in the tinylog camp, while others support twtxt, and I've seen a few capsules try out both. One benefit to twtxt is if you are dual-hosting your content on the web and Gemini - you just update in one location. [12]
Per the docs, a typical twtxt file is formatted like thus:
'''
2016-02-04T13:30:00+01:00 You can really go crazy here! ┐(ﾟ∀ﾟ)┌
2016-02-03T23:05:00+01:00 @
2016-02-01T11:00:00+01:00 This is just another example.
2015-12-12T12:00:00+01:00 Fiat lux!
'''
As you can see, it really is just timestamps with up to 140 character status updates (if you go over clients are supposed to truncate at 140). Replies are similar to Tinylog - using the @, username, and path to their twtxt file. Username is optional.
twtxt is both the format and the name of the CLI program to interact with the twtxt world
twtxt is aggregated by Antenna
Gritty
2022-02-27
Tags: Microblogging
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