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diff --git a/content/entry/gemini-appreciation-entry.md b/content/entry/gemini-appreciation-entry.md index e6250cc..8985674 100644 --- a/content/entry/gemini-appreciation-entry.md +++ b/content/entry/gemini-appreciation-entry.md @@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ The organization resembles that of the early Web. Search engines exist, but they The small-worldiness of Gemini reminds me very much of [Neocities](https://neocities.org/browse), which you should definitely check out if you never have before. If you're like me though and you find the Web overwhelming, Neocities is even more than your average website. That's why I can't spend too long browsing around on there, whereas I can spend hours on Gemini and not mentally tire out. -There's some non-English capsules out there that are good to read if you're trying to learn the language. Gemini is a good way to find others who are open to discussion and collaboration. Most Geminauts put their email on their capsule. Every Geminaut I've sent emails to or received emails from has been friendly. +There are some non-English capsules out there that are good to read if you're trying to learn the language. Gemini is a good way to find others who are open to discussion and collaboration. Most Geminauts put their email on their capsule. Every Geminaut I've sent emails to or received emails from has been friendly. # The Medium is the Message Gemini reminds me of this phrase coined by Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan: @@ -38,18 +38,18 @@ Consider Twitter. If you pay attention to Twitter as a communication medium, one Some design decisions are less obvious. Twitter has infinite scroll, not pagination. This encourages users to get hooked, to keep on scrolling, without giving them a natural point to pause and decide if they really want to keep browsing. That and other design features mean that Twitter (and basically all big tech platforms) doesn't lend itself to use in moderation. It's designed to turn people into addicts. -## Youtube -Youtube has popups which you get if you're not signed in. Youtube hopes the popups will annoy you to the point you just give in. That's because they want to surveil and track you easier. Videos autoplay so you don't have a natural stopping point. This is a reflection of Youtube's values in the same way that infinite scroll reflects Twitter's values. Their goal is to keep you hooked for as long as possible so you watch more ads, they get more data on you, and they make more money. +## YouTube +YouTube has popups which you get if you're not signed in. YouTube hopes the popups will annoy you to the point you just give in. That's because they want to surveil and track you easier. Videos autoplay so you don't have a natural stopping point. This is a reflection of YouTube's values in the same way that infinite scroll reflects Twitter's values. Their goal is to keep you hooked for as long as possible so you watch more ads, they get more data on you, and they make more money. Every big tech social media platform makes thousands of little design decisions which you may not even recognize are decisions someone has made, and even if you do notice them you might not think they make a difference, but these companies have unlimited resources that they use to micro-engineer every change to the site. They know, quantitatively, exactly how much difference their design choices make in keeping you (and your children) hooked on their platforms. -Many people have expressed grave concerns about the way Youtube organizes videos for people to watch. Apparently it leads people down "rabbit holes" where the videos become more and more extreme, more radicalized, and more reactive. How many people who watch Youtube even stop to consider how it organizes the related videos? We need to start questioning more how online platforms themselves influence us, not just the messages on those platforms. +Many people have expressed grave concerns about the way YouTube organizes videos for people to watch. Apparently it leads people down "rabbit holes" where the videos become more and more extreme, more radicalized, and more reactive. How many people who watch YouTube even stop to consider how it organizes the related videos? We need to start questioning more how online platforms themselves influence us, not just the messages on those platforms. ## Gemini I could go on all day about big tech, but let's bring it back to Gemini. How is Gemini designed? What message does it communicate? ### Text-Based -The first thing I notice about Gemini is that it's text-based. On Gemini, you read. You don't look at or watch. Reading is an active process that requires focused attention. So when you're on Gemini, you're on Gemini. You're not doing 10 other things at the same time. If you're on Youtube, you might have other browser tabs open, only half paying attention to the video. +The first thing I notice about Gemini is that it's text-based. On Gemini, you read. You don't look at or watch. Reading is an active process that requires focused attention. So when you're on Gemini, you're on Gemini. You're not doing 10 other things at the same time. If you're on YouTube, you might have other browser tabs open, only half paying attention to the video. ### Non-addictive The second thing that stands out to me about Gemini is there's no rating system. On major social media networks, you have posts, comments, likes/dislikes, reactions, and replies. On Gemini, there's none of that. When you explore a capsule, you explore one person's thoughts at a time, in a linear fashion, with focused attention. Since one's focused attention is a scarce resource, Gemini is naturally non-addictive. @@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ and support for multiple languages. It's useful, while not lending itself to ove And then there's hive minds. Online platforms like Facebook and Reddit especially seem to create self-selected communities where all members conform to certain opinions or else face being ostracized. Thanks to the lack of built-in interactivity on Gemini, there seems to be a lack of hive mind as well. ### No Rating System or Censorship -There's no such thing as being "downvoted to oblivion". Since there's no ads, you're not at risk of gaining or losing ad revenue for sharing unpopular opinions. You don't get points or karma. You don't have to post under your real name. You're free to say anything you want and the worst you'll get is a nasty email. +There's no such thing as being "downvoted to oblivion". Since there are no ads, you're not at risk of gaining or losing ad revenue for sharing unpopular opinions. You don't get points or karma. You don't have to post under your real name. You're free to say anything you want and the worst you'll get is a nasty email. Notably, I haven't seen anyone complain about censorship on Gemini. I attribute the apparent lack of censorship to 3 things: |