Gemlog #8

gemini://medusae.space/index.gmi?8

During this week’s exploration, I have found this region-based directory for the Gemini community. To be honest, when I was about to go to the link, I expected to see certain regional Gemini communities in Asia like China and Japan, which I would be more familiar with and interested in. However, it turned out that the Gemini community, as a representative of the small Internet, is still regionally and lingually limited. Not only did I not find regional Chinese and Japanese communities, but also the whole Asian area was not present in this directory. Furthermore, even though in this Asia-excluded directory there are still multiple regional categories, I would still say the directory is regionally and lingually restrained and narrow. When I got into all the regional categories listed in the directory, I almost only found English-based regional communities like the UK, USA, and Australia, with a few European language-based communities such as Italian and French communities. I am always aware that there is a gap in access to digital infrastructures and the Internet around the globe, and for undeveloped regions, it can be more difficult for local people to access the Gemini community as a niche online space when it requires them to have more technical skills. However, for countries like China, Japan, and Korea, which have already been powerful in the Internet industry, their communities are still absent in the whole Gemini community. Therefore, if I have to criticize the Gemini community, I would rather argue that this community is Euro-American and English-centric, in which people outside the region are naturally excluded. Also, I am wondering if there is a niche online community that is based in Eastern Asia where I am from, besides the Euro-American-centric Gemini community?