There is some interesting discussion around gopher and the
expectation (or lack thereof) that others will read and engage with
one's gopher content. There is np89's original post [0], and The
Free Thinker's reply [1].

I agree with np89 in his comments on the original post [2] that it's
odd that someone would see a gopher site as hard to maintain, and
also the 120-day email addresses used for comments in cardboard64's
phlog seem to defeat the purpose of something that might be online
in the gopher-verse for years. The ease with which one can stand up
and post to gopher is a big reason why I like it. There is just no
comparison to the www - even static HTML is a pain to write with -
plain text or at most simple markdown are perfectly suited for this
medium.

I only partially agree about engagement - I offer my permanent email
address for those who want to discuss something I have posted on
gopher, and have received several nice emails that way. I enjoy
receiving comments on something I wrote, whether by email or by a
phlog reply!  For me, that is enough "engagement", even at a
trickle. If I wanted more engagement I would just move to the www
and use wordpress or something that enables insta-comments and
replies.

So while I write first and foremost for me, it would be disingenuous
of me to say that I don't care if others read it - after all, the
things I post here are public. I can (and do) write in private as
well, which also scratches the itch to write. But the often glacial
pace of posts and replies on gopher is what draws me to it.

[0]: gopher://republic.circumlunar.space/0/%7enp89/glog/20230828-someone_doesnt_get_gopher.txt
[1]: gopher://aussies.space/0/%7efreet/phlog/2023-09-02Getting_the_Gopher.txt
[2]: gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space/0/%7ecardboard64/phlog/07-considering-leaving.txt