---
title: The Fear Of Missing Out
date: 2020-08-02
tags:
 - culture
 - web
---

# The Fear Of Missing Out

Humans have evolved over thousands of years with communities that are small,
tight-knit and where it is easy to feel like you know everyone in them. The
Internet changes this completely. With the Internet, it's easy to send messages,
write articles and even publish books that untold thousands of people can read
and interact with. This has lead to an instinctive fear in humanity I'm going to
call the Fear of Missing Out [1]. 

[[1]: The Fear of Missing Out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_missing_out)

The Internet in its current form capitalizes and makes billions off of this.
Infinite scrolling and live updating pages that make it feel like there's always
something new to read. Uncountable hours of engineering and psychological
testing spent making sure people click and scroll and click and consume all day
until that little hit of dopamine becomes its own addiction. We have taken a
system for displaying documents and accidentally turned it into a hulking
abomination that consumes the souls of all who get trapped in it, crystallizing
them in an endless cycle of checking notifications, looking for new posts on
your newsfeed, scrolling down to find just that something you think you're
looking for.

When I was in high school, I bagged groceries for a store. I also had the
opportunity to help customers out to their cars and was able to talk with them.
Obviously, I was minimum wage and had a whole bunch of other things to do;
however there were a few times that I could really get to talk with regular
customers and feel like I got to know them. What comes to mind however is a
story where that is not the case. One day I was helping this older woman to her
car, and she eventually said something like "All of these people just keep
going, going, going nonstop. It drives me mad. How can't they see where they are
is good enough already?" I thought for a moment and I wasn't able to come up
with a decent reply.

The infinite scrollbars and newsfeeds of the web just keep going, going, going,
going, going, going, going and going until the user gives up to do something
elses. There's no consideration of _how_ the content is discovered, and _why_
the content is discovered, it's just an endless feed of noise. One subtle change
in your worldview after another, just from the headlines alone. Not to mention
the endless torrent of advertising.

However, I think there may be a way out, a kind of detox from the infinite
scrolling, newsfeeds, notifications and the like for the internet, and I think a
good step towards that is the Gemini [2] protocol.

[[2]: Gemini Protocol](https://gemini.circumlunar.space/)

Gemini is a protocol that is somewhere between HTTP and Gopher. A user sends a
request to a Gemini server and the user gets a response back. This response
could be anything, but a little header tells the client what kind of data it is.
There's also a little markup format that's a very lightweight take on
markdown [3], but overall the entire goal of the project is to be minimal and
just serve documents.

[[3]: Gemtext markup](https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/gemini.circumlunar.space/docs/gemtext.gmi)

I've noticed something as I browse through the known constellation of Gemini
capsules though. I keep refreshing the CAPCOM feed of posts. I keep refreshing
the mailing list archives. I keep refreshing my email client, looking for new
content and feel frustrated when it doesn't show up like I expect it to. I'm
addicted to the newsfeeds. I'm caught in the trap that autoplay put me in. I'm a
victim to infinite scrolling and that constant little hit of dopamine that
modern social media has put on us all. Realizing this feels like I am realizing
an addiction to a drug (but I'd argue that it somewhat is a drug, by design,
what better way to get people to be exposed to ads than to make the service that
serves the ads addictive!).

I'm not sure how to best combat this. It feels kind of scary. I'm starting to
attempt to detox though. I'm writing a lot more on my Gemini capsule [4] [5]. I'm
starting to really consider the Fear of Missing Out when I design and implement
things in the future. So many things update instantly on the modern internet, it
may be a good idea to attempt to make something that updates weekly or even
monthly.

[[4]: My Gemini capsule](gemini://cetacean.club)  
[[5]: [experimental] My Gemini capsule over HTTP](http://cetacean.club)

I'm still going to attempt a few ideas that I have regarding long term archival
of the Gemini constellation, but I'm definitely going to make sure that I take
the time to actually consider the consequences of my actions and what kind of
world it creates. I want to create the kind of world that enables people to
better themselves. 

Let's work together to detox from the harmful effects of what we all have
created. I'm considering opening up a Gemini server that other people can have
accounts on and write about things that interest them.

If you want to get started with Gemini, I suggest taking a look at the main site
through the Gemini to HTTP proxy [6]. There are some clients listed in the pages
there, including a _very good_ iOS client that is currently in TestFlight. 
Please do keep in mind that Gemini is very much a back-button navigation kind of
experience. The web has made people expect navigation links to be everywhere,
which can make it a weird/jarring experience at first, but you get used to it.
You can see evidence of this in my site with all the "Go back" links on each
page. I'll remove those at some point, but for now I'm going to keep them.

[[6]: Project Gemini](https://portal.mozz.us/gemini/gemini.circumlunar.space/)

Don't be afraid of missing out. It's inevitable. Things happen. It's okay for
them to happen without you having to see them. They will still be there when you
look again.
