The "alternative" internet has a higher diversity of people

I have been exploring the so-called "small web" for a couple of years now.
What I observed is, that the space of personal websites and networks alternative to the big corporate ones
is not "small", by no means. I have more links to visit in my bookmarks
than I will ever have the time to do so.

Also, it is not contained to the WWW; you can find tons of people, personal spaces,
communities etc. on gopher. And there is Gemini and zeronet, which I haven't even tried
yet.

But one thing that really stood out to me is the "diversity" of people.
I don't like the term _diversity_ because it has been misused in the couple of years;
however, in the original meaning it makes sense here.
On the corporate controlled Internet, people are usually excluded when they have the
wrong character or the wrong opinion; and my this I don't mean being banned for
promoting racism or nazi idiology, but just being insulted if they don't fit into
the normie view. On the alternative internet however, everything goes.

For example, <a href="https://matthewgraybosch.com/">matthewgraybosch.com</a> has
a page about his working conditions - where he states not only that he operates on
the autistic spectrum, but he also lists lots of clear rules if you want to hire him.
Try having a page like this on any corporate social network and you will be driven out
by the normie crowd, while being ridiculed on the way. I do respect this man
for basically saying "if you want me to work for you, these are my conditions; if you don't
accept them, feel free to look elsewhere".

Then, on the gopher network you cand find prolonged discussions about using old tech
(e.g. minidisc players) just for the sake of it, without anyone making fun of you
because you are not using the newest hottest iphone.

As a third example, you can find lots of pages where people host their favorite music,
films or games for downloading. These are by no means warez sites, just people trying
to share what they love without the control of the corporate copyright mafia.

Furthermore, on discussion forums like bluedwarf, I was surprised to see actual discussion -
that is, people stating their (sometimes very diverse) point of view, trying to find
the bigger truth without insulting each other or trying to just "win".

I have gotten used to the "discussions" on places like reddit, which are basically
"look at this funny comment, give me upvotes" or "don't post against the hivemind or we will
downvote/ban you". Seeing these other kinds of people felt unfamiliar, I must admit.

But after some time, it feels much more human.

tags: small-web