blog: The Fear of Missing Out

blog/gemini-web-fear-missing-out-2020-08-02.markdown

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+---
+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]: 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.