Re: Project Gutenberg Gopher
For publicity I would suggest a combination of social platforms that
have support for gopher. There has been a lot of talk on Mastodon, and
word of Project Gutenberg will spread quickly through the ranks there.
Hacker News has had three relatively high traffic posts in the last two
months on Gopher. Again, the credibility of Project Gutenberg will help
spread the word beyond folks that click a link because of the word
gopher. Reddit could be an interesting outlet, but you'd want to go
beyond the /r/gopher group and get noticed in /r/TIL or even
/r/mildlyinteresting. If you can target a sub that's in the default
favorites list you'll get a lot of views.
That bridges the conversation to the next point. Once you give people
the info that it exists, you'll have a lot of people that aren't
familiar asking some basic questions. Do you provide background on
Gopher in the post, or tease it like "The Web before the Web", or rely
on links. Not many people will have instant access to check it out, so
you could consider a proxy, but it will undermine the idea of gopher if
someone can easily see it like a text-only webpage. I'd suggest you and
Dr. Newby discuss your strategy there. You might be able to dream up
something more substantial than just a note.
For instance, you could highlight some of the content in Project
Gutenberg that deals with outdated technologies (*cough* not that Gopher
fits that title) and make a press release that curates some fitting
content exclusively in that medium. That would be an extra value-add to
folks that want to spend a little extra time to explore.
Lastly, there's definitely some value in public relations both for the
gopher protocol and Project Gutenberg if you can get discussed in a
mainstream medium. Shoot a note to some tech writers at some of the more
popular magazines, not just specialty subs. Forbes or FastCompany might
not do an article, but you might get a mention in a sidebar.
Finally, I'd recommend you have some fun with it. What you've got is
actually a really useful service and not just a throwaway side project.
If you can showcase it as something special that has a personal touch it
will resonate longer with the people.
Good luck
On 01/17, Mr. Leveck wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> Project Gutenberg has been hosting a Gopher frontend for their service
> since October. It is reachable thru this URL: gopher://dante.pglaf.org
>
> Here is is a communication from their CEO:
>
> > This service has been running, and I'm not sure what we might want to
> > do with it. It has not yet been publicized.
> >
> > Let me know, and thanks again,
> > Greg Newby
>
> I am seeking advice from the group as to what Project Gutenberg should
> do to publicize this service. I am certain they are aware that they are
> aware that the very nature of gopher:// means it will never have huge
> amounts of traffic.
>
> Please reply to all on the is thread as I have CC'd Dr. Newby on this
> message.
>
> --
> Nathaniel Leveck
> gopher://gopher.leveck.us
> https://www.leveck.us
Reply to: