Comment by 💎 pista
Re: "What could a protocol-native cult hit look like?"
@csleibold
It *doesn't matter* that it can be ported to a different platform, only that the author *chose* Gemini to begin with!
This is what I’ve been saying since I first got involved in Gemini. This space needs original things that only exist here or people have no reason to fire up a Gemini browser. And we need as many people with as many diverse interests as possible to create them.
Way too many people tried to fill up Gemini early on by porting over Web projects (generally in an inferior form).
That’s why this BBS is so great. It’s only here and it’s built for here. It gives us a reason to hop on Gemini every day.
2025-05-22 · 1 year ago
14 Later Comments ↓
🦀 Proton · 2025-05-22 at 20:15:
What keeps me visiting: lagrange\ What keeps me leaving: every capsule on here is a blog about the same 3 topics with 0 diversity and very insular inward looking mentality
🚀 hum0r · 2025-05-22 at 22:29:
Along with many of the comments about gated content (art/writing/games), I personally think specialized hardware would be a big boon to the gemini population. I personally imagine something like an e-reader with a physical keyboard - or another type of device created specifically to take advantage of the Gemini ecosystem. There are so many Cyberdecks that generate a lot of publicity online, and I think custom hardware could do the same for Gemini.
🚀 clseibold [🛂] · 2025-05-24 at 03:10:
@pista Sure! This is a great distinction to bring up: I'm not necessarily discounting unique *content* as one aspect that affects whether something becomes a hit, but I am discounting unique technological innovation. Very often we can find superior platforms or technological ideas don't succeed whereas the inferior ones do, and one reason for this is because of the content that you can find on that platform. And part of the content often includes art.
And yet, I think there's a very important difference between art that is entirely unique and the experience of the art being new to a particular audience. Art that feels new is oftentimes not unique. The perceptual originality of the experience of the art matters more than its original mechanics. I think this view is more consistent with real-world examples of art that become hits.
🐙 norayr · 2025-05-25 at 01:06:
of course nobody can or wishes to restrict adoption of gemini.
i think everyone in this thread basically agrees on most of things.
but there is misunderstanding about terms. what 'success' means can be very different.
and i guess many of us (me certainly) are not fans of the 'success' in startup or corporate app style.
we are not competing, we are not imposing, we just use the protocol and have fun.
however i do believe that gemini achieved success (though i dislike the word and its use in connection with gemini).
there are lots of people who use the protocol and have fun with it. if i had invented some protocol, i don't think it would lead to such adoption. gemini finds resonanse in some people's hearts.
and doesn't find in others' hearts.
i tried to show gemini to many: it has zero appeal to 99.999999% of people i shown it to.
they don't care and don't feel what i feel and how i relate to gemini.
that's fine. it's not for 'mainstream' user, as well as certain types of music are not for everyone's taste.
and it shouldn't be.
ploum has this article, called, i think, stop trying social networks succeed.
🐙 norayr · 2025-05-25 at 01:08:
— ploum.net/2023-07-06-stop-trying-to-make-social-networks-succeed.gmi
🚀 clseibold [🛂] · 2025-05-25 at 03:44:
All I would have to say is I don't like this use of the word mainstream, because I'm part of the mainstream and I use Gemini. Mainstream is often used as a way of lumping everyone together without distinguishing between the people. Gemini, right now, appeals mostly to tech people because it's tech-focused.
It also appeals to people who understand the text-focused vision, but not everybody understands the text-focused vision, or more likely, *it's particular* text-focused vision.
I've showed Gemini to other people as well, and many of them say that they don't understand the lack of things like images and styling. **That's not automatically them being "mainstream"**, and I find that to be very reductive, especially when most of these people I've showed it to were programmers.
The reality is most people like a mix of mainstream and niche things.
The thing people have a problem with in Gemini is that they don't understand the reasons for the lack of visual artistic expression, OR that they don't understand its very restrictive version of typography (lack of inline markup like emphasis and strong, lack of inline links, etc.). *Those* are the reasons why some people don't get the protocol, and some of them are protocol limitations, mostly. Which is fine. They don't have to get it, although some of this is the fault of Gemini users who misunderstand Gemini's own purpose and capabilities, lmao.
💎 pista · 2025-05-25 at 04:05:
I do really wish we had either italics or underline. The lack of those makes writing that includes attributions or foreign words a lot uglier than it needs to be.
🚀 hum0r · 2025-05-25 at 16:09:
Another topic to consider: If someone uses Gemini to release software or some other kind of work they feel they should be compensated for; does that seemingly go against the Gemini ethos? At what point does rewarding an individual's work turn into corporatization? When they found an LLC?
🚀 stack · 2025-05-25 at 18:07:
I think we object to being taken advantage of by corporations in the Web space (such as private information collected and traded without our consent). Doing useful work and perhaps getting paid for it by those who enjoy the benefits is hard to object to!
Corporate personhood is a whole other question, and is entirely off topic, don't you think?
🚀 clarahd · 2025-05-30 at 17:00:
I think this post suggests a priority app for the Gemini protocol - what to use instead of Google Maps Business Reviews if they will know everything about your web activity, and then control what answers you get by redirecting only to themselves and large corporate partners.
— bbs.geminispace.org/u/Sophira/29053
Perspective of someone new to the space (most of which has already been said), 1. exclusive content, bring people back to the joy of the written word. 2. clients for phones (saying this as someone who doesn't have a browser on their phone, but its how most people use the internet and there is one ios app which is pretty rough)
🚀 stack · 2025-05-30 at 20:03:
Writing on my very old phone with Lagrange.
Anything written on Gemini is easily proxied to the web or any other protocol.
💎 pista · 2025-05-30 at 21:28:
If you aren't using Lagrange for iOS you're doing it wrong.
Having to compile from source isnt very available, though i will do it, the majority wont. Proxy is similar, random reader on the street will be put off. It needs to be a few clicks to be mainstream. And you then can have a higher reader to writter ratio.
edit. ok figured out its on testflight and have it working on tablet, it is delightful but even that was a few more clicks than your avg bystander would go through.
Original Post
What could a protocol-native cult hit look like? — Is it likely that Gemini will soon see a cult hit that leverages the protocol's strengths while embracing its limitations? What do you think that such a project could look like?