Re: I will stay on the small web

Original Post

After I saw a few of those posts on BBS I too started thinking about the idea that the smolweb was "dying." I know I got interested in gemini two years ago, got everything setup for my own server. I run both my personal "life" capsule as well as one for my amateur radio use which I then proxy to http for the rest of the world to see. For being a web developer I never really liked doing web development. So making content for the smolweb felt much more like home.

But the more I think about it, what really is the major difference between smolweb services like gemini and the rest of the WWW? Its the availability of new content. Some of the most hit up sites on the larger web are places like Reddit that just aggregate other sites and facilitate discussion. Blog posts are a dime a dozen and most people don't really subscribe to any individual author. There has been more of a push for blogging type services, people moving from Medium to SubStack, but even there, as a consumer it feels more like filling up a queue where 90% of it ends up being noise and you skip content for the few diamonds in the rough. People posting trying to get you to subscribe when I think to myself "you want monthly payments when I find once a year worthy content?"

What does this actually look like when you step back. The larger web isn't producing services and content that are lasting. They make stuff to look at that gets its 15 minutes and eventually falls off dead. We just don't really notice it because the next cycle of content is already at your front door. We just don't see this because new content gets in the way. With the smolweb we are more aware because it is small, it is niche, and its filled with a lot of like-minded people making the same projects, same hobbies and same interests. There are days when I look at Antenna and no one has posted anything beyond the daily images or link aggratation. That is ok.

This change is normal. The types of content and services that might be fun to make for a weekend project will will die eventually. Consumers will then falling back into the content and discussions that keep people interested. This is the nature of large community projects like networked communication. We move on to the next flash in the pan and we keep around the good stuff. We should start viewing content in the right context. Some services and content are meant to be short lived, others last longer.

The smolweb isn't dying. It is maturing.

$ tags: smolweb, life $

$ published: 2025-07-17 12:30 $

-- CC-BY-4.0 jecxjo 2025-07-17

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