i looked into Ido today! i think it's a really cool language that fixes most of my problems with Esperanto. it has a lot of resources, but after trying to find literally any video teaching it on youtube, i realized how much i took toki pona's community for granted lol
then i was thinking, why DOES toki pona's community seem so big? it feels very active despite being niche, the sort of thing you run into randomly on the internet, whether it's a kijetesantakalu meme or someone whose name starts with jan. i realized that auxlangs in general seem really fitting for the internet, but toki pona probably worked really well in particular.
if anyone is reading this and doesn't know what i'm talking about, quick summary: auxlang = international auxiliary language, a common language meant to be spoken across nations, usually referring to constructed languages (conlangs). Esperanto is the most famous of these, and Ido is a derivative of Esperanto.
every single article i see on these "popular" conlangs pretty much echo the same thing (other than Esperanto): they were basically DEAD in the dirt until the internet came along. and this makes a lot of sense to me!! having access to free resources to learn a language? having a platform to meet people from all over the world? it almost feels like the initial idea of auxlangs have finally been fulfilled through the perfect medium for them to exist. can you imagine wanting to learn Esperanto and having to go out and buy a book just to learn it? it makes a lot of sense to me why people would consider it a waste of time lol
HOWEVER, this is where toki pona comes along. it's incredibly simple, forged through forum discussions, and has a lot of personality, focused on being a language that will just make people happy by speaking it. this is practically the perfect conlang for the internet, which also feeds into its ability to act as a auxlang. you can learn it from a single youtube series and a cheat sheet, then hop into discords to talk with other speakers, as easy as that.
so, i find that really interesting! i hope a lot more conlangs find their place on the internet and that we don't leave some of the cooler ones to the past. i'm planning on learning the basics of Ido, and if i like it enough, maybe i'll be the first to make a youtube tutorial...