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Lately I have encountered several gemlog posts discussing the 'speed', or lack thereof, of Gemini. Some people complain about this; others are complaining about others' complaints. I've been wanting to do a 'meta' post, and this seems like as good a topic as any.
At first I was geniuinely confused. Slow? Gemini? Most content loads almost instantly, even on my slow PinePhone! However, as I get into the meat of the articles, a pattern starts to emerge: Gemini seems to trigger a dopamine withdrawal in creatures known as 'humans', to the point that it is a complete turnoff. Instant likes, upvotes, downvotes, emojis, comments, re-posts, etc. make the world of modern social media very fast-paced. To a certain extent, I get it. Instant communication and all. Good in theory. That is a double-edged sword though, because it lends itself very well to thoughtless or hostile comments that serve no purpose other than the joys of arguing. I myself have been guilty of this many times.
When I was still on social media, I was very much in a filter bubble. On Gemini? Quite the opposite. I have encountered quite a few capsules where the authors present some pretty batshit crazy ideas. What are those ideas, you ask? That's not my point here. Point is, I'll often continue to read the crazy stuff simply because of how detailed it is. I'll never agree with some of these opinions, but it is better to be informed that they exist than never to be exposed to them. It'll open your mind and train your brain on how to counter certain arguments presented because you'll understand them in depth. A 'speedy' platform just triggers a quick emotional response, often with a smartass quip. While that can be fun, sure, it is not productive. Conversation is, though; even if you walk away with no changed opinions, at least you can realize that these crazies are still (technically?) human after all (easy to forget on birdsite &c).
There have been times that I have read some of these crazy gemlogs and of course had some thoughts of my own, but the cost of a reply (time spent writing a detailed response) made me think twice and ultimately I chose against it. I think this allows deeper conversations because, to paraphrase something I saw from another geminaut recently, to reply you really need both to care and to put some serious rational thought into it. Well, technically you don't *need* to, but the culture of Gemini is more longform and so it just kind of comes naturally. This does lead to a smaller quantity of content, but I think the quality more than makes up for it.
Does that make it 'slow'? Absolutely.
Have I seen even one single heated, rage-fueled argument on Gemini in the almost year I've been passively reading it? Nope. Not once, that I can recall.
I'll take the quality over quantity any day.
Therein lies part of the appeal of Gemini: adult conversation over childish bickering. Bickering, which I might add, I have myself participated in. But what's the point? I've long since gotten over the illusion of having any chance of changing minds on social media. Now, I don't think Gemini is going to change too many minds on $INSERT_HOT_TOPIC_OF_THE_WEEK either, because people are still people. At least we can have civil debates in this smol corner of the internet, though.
In short: I think the systems so prevalent in the toxic bignet, are a bad idea *for Gemini*. While they technically could fit into the spec as is with server-side applications, I for one say they should be actively discouraged in favor of longform responses.
All that said, I want to stress that in some cases, shortform-heavy websites have their place -- just not the legacy ones (birdsite &c). Maybe one day we'll live in a world where Big Tech is bankrupt and the masses will have learned their lesson and the 'alt tech' becomes just 'tech', without becoming what it aims to replace. Just not Gemini! A mass invasion into here would ruin the fun!