I built a community of 1,600... accidentally
The full story is even weirder – strap in!
Now, when I say community, I mean social network.
Yes, I made my own social network. It doesn't get much more narcissistic than that.
The 1,600th user arrived an hour ago. Not that we number them like prisoners or anything…
*Rewind sound*
Play is super important for creativity.
Ask kids. They know. Us adults forget too easily.
Every year, without fail, an idea will come to me. It'll seem stupid… usually for solid reasons.
But the desire to "just play with it" is always there, whispering my name in a seductive voice.
I'm good at rejecting these random ideas to stay focused on whatever else I'm working on.
Well, most of the time.
🛰️ Station and its community of 1,600, is a good exception.
Back in the pandemic I happened upon an article about a new network called Gemini. I read that article.
Gemini is similar to the web, except it's not the web. You can't visit Gemini using your web browser – you need a different one.
It's an uber-simple network, similar to the very early web – before the web changed its internal mission to be about ruining everyone's day.
It has domains and sites (capsules), but to put your own stuff onto Gemini, you'd have to run your own server.
Now, I don't mean to brag, but my Mum plays Counter-Strike and knows how to use PGP and BitTorrent.
This is not normal behaviour.
Normal mothers don't usually want to run their own servers. This is true even when they have no children.
So, I decided to write a social network for Gemini.
I called it Station.
If you're noticing a space-based theme, it's because there's a space-based theme.
Gemini is named after the same-named NASA project from 1964. Now you know why Gemini servers listen in port 1964 instead of 443/80.
Station would be a centralised hub where people could come, hang out, chat and share their ideas.
I searched around "Geminispace", and nothing else like it existed. Perfect. It was my time to shine.
Out came Vim, and 2 weeks of rejecting normal routine. I just coded and slept. And some other stuff, but let's not get graphic.
It's fun building a social network, especially for a protocol that does not have a web framework, or any particular tools or approaches to building apps… because it doesn't have apps.
For the technical among you: the Gemini protocol has only one kind of request (GET), which introduces some unique security challenges, too.
2 weeks later and Station was launched.
And I had a shower.
4 people (all friends) signed up and began using it. Then a few more, and then few more. I didn't know where they were coming from.
I launched Station expecting I'd run the server for a few weeks before the interest died off. Then I could move onto another crazy idea.
But here I am, 3 years later, watching it hit 1,600.
I'm active on Station most days, as are many others. It's absolutely already a sub-culture. I'm even going to meet a few folks from Station IRL in Asia.
I've no idea why 1,600 signed up. All I know is that it's a space that people enjoy using, and for that I'm very grateful.
Building is fun, but people using what you've built for 3 years is even funner.
So, play more!
Put more stuff into the world. Serendipity is waiting for you.
Got a silly idea? Make it. See what happens. Don't let others tell you it's pointless, a distraction, it won't work, etc. Who cares.
Put your insane ideas into the world.
It's easier now than it ever was, so you have no excuse.
You never know (nor does anyone else) which ideas will stick. Not to mention the skills and experience you'll gain from shipping something, even if none do.
If you're a Station user, thanks for keeping our community friendly and welcoming. It's awesome to have our little corner on the Internet that only 1600 people know about.
For now!