
IndieWeb - pandatigox
http://indiewebify.me/
======
mawburn
> _What is the IndieWeb?_

> _We should all own the content we 're creating, rather than just posting to
> third-party content silos. Publish on your own domain, and syndicate out to
> silos. This is the basis of the "Indie Web" movement. ~IndieWebCamp_

So... what is "the IndieWeb"? This didn't answer the question.

~~~
benwerd
The indieweb is a social web where everyone runs their own profile, on their
own (sub)domain, potentially on their own servers - while being able to talk
to their friends as easily as they could on Facebook or Twitter.

All based on open technologies, rough consensus, user-centered design and
running code, rather than endless mailing lists and technical debate.

~~~
pXMzR2A
That sounds like (GNU Social) + (Diaspora) - (Distributed Content)

Sounds great until your (sub)domain(s) gets censored or targeted.

~~~
benwerd
If a profile gets censored / targeted, it's one profile, vs an entire social
network. But, eg, content being replied to is typically duplicated across
profiles, so there actually is distribution of content.

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Xeoncross
Seems like blog + XFN + pingbacks with a new name..? I would love it if
everyone could have their own domain name + server - but this isn't practical
at this point in time.

Why not work on making running a server + website easier?

\-
[https://github.com/Xeoncross/lowendscript](https://github.com/Xeoncross/lowendscript)

\-
[https://gist.github.com/Xeoncross/3b8ed1d094707bc0dff8](https://gist.github.com/Xeoncross/3b8ed1d094707bc0dff8)

\-
[https://github.com/Xeoncross/simpleserversetup](https://github.com/Xeoncross/simpleserversetup)

~~~
groks
> I would love it if everyone could have their own domain name + server - but
> this isn't practical at this point in time.

You don't need to run your own server. Point the domain name you own at
Squarespace (or Wordpress.org, or hosted Wordpress, or any service you
like...) for a low-tech, free or low-cost website where you decide what
happens.

Move when you change your mind.

------
chrisatthestudy
Am I completely misunderstanding what this is supposed to be, or am I really
so old that I remember what everyone else has forgotten? What you're calling
the 'IndieWeb', where everyone has their own website and domain, and hosts
their own content on it, we had a name for that.

We called it the World Wide Web.

~~~
humanrebar
Yeah, it's an attempt to revive the federated model of the WWW.

------
meira
The main point about IndieWeb is to create authorship over published content.
Silos (other social networks and startups) are only tools to syndicate it.
IndieWebCamp is a bunch of people developing tools to support this endeavour.
There is an IRC channel in freenode: #IndieWebCamp & #IndieChat

------
humanrebar
I like the idea of the IndieWeb, but I'm also a big believer in discretion-
oriented sharing. People don't just walk out on the street and start yelling
facts and opinions at each other. They target their message for the audience.
And if the audience is everyone, then the message tends to suffer.

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't really see myself participating much
until I can control who sees what information. I'd like sharing photos of my
family with family and friends. I don't care to post them publicly. I like
discussing politics... with people who can handle a political discussion
without hurt feelings or pointless bickering.

The IndieWeb makes a lot of sense for public conversation, though. If I were
into blogging, writing, or otherwise producing content as a job or serious
hobby, I'd be all over it.

~~~
benwerd
We're working on that. :)

------
lowglow
Here is something that helps explain the who, what, why a bit more.

[https://indiewebcamp.com/](https://indiewebcamp.com/)

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mrspeaker
Arrgh! I'm very intrigued, but have read that page 3 times and have no idea
what it's about - is it just "add microformats to your website and presto: the
internet was the indieweb all along!" or am I missing something?!

~~~
pmlnr
It's a little deeper than that. For short the end goal would be for everyone
to have their own domain - a website - and that domain should be the centrum &
origin of their activity on the intenet.

This means that the website would be the tool to send and receive
interactions; it would be the storage for all one's content.

This is to avoid those situations when content is removed, censored, etc. on a
silo/social network; to have control over your own data and to have a mesh-
network-like layout of individual sites that are more not single point of
failures in opposition of gigantic monoculture that currently rule the
internet.

The reference for the 'like it was all along' is a reminder that a very long
time ago the internet was a network of individual websites and you were not
bound to use centralized services from corporations.

~~~
BillinghamJ
How does this differ from how Diaspora works?

~~~
pmlnr
diaspora is an open source social network. It's not a site for an individual,
unlike, for example, [http://withknown.com/](http://withknown.com/),
WordPress, and the rest.

My personal opinion behind the indieweb is here, in case it makes more sense
like this: [https://petermolnar.eu/journal/indieweb-decentralize-web-
cen...](https://petermolnar.eu/journal/indieweb-decentralize-web-centralizing-
ourselves/)

------
z3t4
I think more people should be self-hosting. You are probably already paying
for a 24/7 Internet access. And your router is probably more then capable of
hosting a web server.

~~~
shortstuffsushi
Many ISPs (at least in the US, or Wisconsin) don't allow you to do this, and
block incoming HTTP/HTTPS traffic.

~~~
relaxitup
I imagine there is some Cloudflare magic that could take care of this problem
(whilst your home webserver running on an alternate port) ?

~~~
shortstuffsushi
Yes, using alternative ports does sometimes work. In the past, I had used NoIP
or whatever the name was at that point to route incoming from 80 to a non-
standard port. CloudFlare could probably do the same, but then have you
defeated the goal of self hosting, since you have a provider in front of your
site?

------
aklemm
Looking forward to implementing these on my personal domain. The dream is
alive! These are great steps in the right direction, but the major draw that
will take IndieWeb concepts mainstream still seems elusive.

------
ac360
I love the IndieWeb movement. I don’t know if you guys have meet-ups, but if
you’re in SF, I’d love to meet you.

I’m one of the founders of Servant –
[https://www.servant.co](https://www.servant.co) – It’s a personal database
which you can give apps permission to read and write to. The goal is to allow
people to bring their own database to the apps they use and disconnect it
whenever they’re done with an app.

We’re in the centralization camp, but we share many goal/themes with the
IndieWeb movement.

\- Austen austen [at] servant.co

~~~
willnorris
There are the actual Indie Web Camps that occur several times throughout the
year. And each month there is the Homebrew Website Club Meetup
([http://indiewebcamp.com/next-hwc](http://indiewebcamp.com/next-hwc), named
after the Homebrew Computer Club).

------
ChrisArchitect
I get this, it just seems like a battle sometimes. If you're just looking for
somewhere to post some content/share an article/thought..... Also, and this is
particularly relevant here on HN - what if you want to post some content that
might be of interest on HN but you don't want to overload your personal site
with traffic? Let one of the so called 'content silos' worry about the uptime.

Also, why not just come out and say who this is about - the
facebooks/mediums/tumblrs etc

~~~
benwerd
If you're just looking for somewhere to post some content, we run an indieweb-
compatible service: [https://withknown.com](https://withknown.com) ;)

It's about not having control over your representation online. For me, it's
also about freedom of identity, and freedom to dictate your own content
standards.

------
fredfoobar42
Do I need to have this WebReply crap? I have my own domain, and I don't have
comments, because I want to own every pixel of the thing.

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ugexe
"We should all own the content we're creating, rather than just posting to
third-party content silos."

Isn't this just centralizing and stream-lining the same process they claim you
should be avoiding?

~~~
kyle_wm
What makes you say that? It's about posting your own content on your own
domain, very much not about centralizing nor streamlining.

~~~
tombrossman
It is definitely about centralizing, on your own domain. Nothing wrong with
that but the distinction is to have total control and not rely on a third-
party silo. This takes some extra effort but is totally worth it.

~~~
joshbuddy
I think that value proposition is very different for different people. For
technical people, maybe it's a good idea. For non-technical people, I fear the
indie web is very much out of reach.

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pc2g4d
This seems like a great platform for spam, so if it's to succeed long-term
there will need to be good antispam tools. Seems like a cool development,
though, and I hope it works out.

~~~
benwerd
There are some pretty good proposals about spam. So far it hasn't been a
problem, but it's good to have tools in place.

