== 2026-05-09 Saturday ==

Non-tech users on Gopher & Gemini?
==================================

I was interested to read Fripster's recent phlog post[0] about the
lack of "normal", non-techy content on Gemini and Gopher.


1) I'm hoping in my small way that my Gopher effort will add some
non-techy content to Gopher space, although inevitably there /will/
be some stuff that could be labelled "tech".


2) I've been thinking about his other point, that "normal" people
don't seem capable of thinking beyond the narrow confines of 

"the internet is the WWW and the WWW is the internet"


Looking at the current state of Web Blogging I've seen mostly
tech-oriented stuff, no different to the type of stuff that
dominates Gopher and Gemini. That's probably because the people
who still "blog" on self-hosted blogs etc. are techy people. Just
like on Gopher and Gemini.

"Normal" people have already left the Blogging-Space to trap
themselves in the Walled Gardens of Social Media. Only the
technically minded are now interested in managing old fashioned
platforms like a Blog or a Personal Website.

Where are all the personal Web Sites about gardening and flower
arranging and stamp collecting? 

Everyone's gone to FaceB**k Groups, or Discord or somewhere
similar.

Of those that still hold on to the "smol web" mindset they're
probably happy with what they're already doing on the Web and it
would take something special for them en masse to discover Gopher
or Gemini and see it as a serious alternative.

The ones that /do/ see Gopher as a serious place to hang out and
publish their ideas and describe and document their other hobbies
(by /other/ I mean the hobbies apart from the obvious one of
tinkering in wierd online spaces) will hopefully gravitate here. 

As I have done.

But of course it's the tech. aspect a lot of them will find most
relevant to be posting about in such a special, rarified place as
"port 70 space".

I can't answer the main question "How to get more non-techy
content" in Gopher and Gemini space... except to say
tongue-in-cheek

"Build it, and they will come"

But unless it starts trending on the major social media places then
there's not going to be any huge growth in steam-train-enthusiast
phlogs etc.

de John G4SLV

[0] gopher://fripster.ydns.eu/0/phlog/2026-04-30