The indieweb doesn't need to “take off”

Role and Goals of the IndieWeb

• Many agree it doesn’t need to “take off” to be meaningful; it’s valuable as a niche for people who want control over their own sites and data.
• Others argue that, given how dependent people are on large platforms, an independent web is more like a “victory garden” in wartime: not just a hobby, but a necessary counterweight.
• Some push back that fixing corporate and regulatory problems is not IndieWeb’s job; expecting it to “save” the web is moving the goalposts.

Corporate vs Independent Web, Then and Now

• One side claims the “non‑independent web” has never been more powerful or dangerous.
• Another argues corporate dominance actually peaked ~10–15 years ago (AOL, IE, Facebook monoculture) and that today’s ecosystem is more diverse (messaging apps, creator platforms, open‑source).
• A counter‑nostalgic view says 20 years ago everyday use was already heavily corporate (AIM/ICQ, ISP portals), and that HN-typical “wild west” experiences were niche.

Barriers to Adoption and UX Friction

• Persistent complaint: running your own domain, mail, hosting, TLS, and IndieWeb protocols (Micropub, webmentions, h-feed) is confusing and fragile, even for professionals.
• Some conclude DNS/hosting are overkill for individuals and better handled by non-corporate shared platforms (e.g., fediverse instances).
• Others respond that doing things yourself is supposed to be hard; the value is the independence. But there’s broad agreement that easier onboarding and migration are missing.

Gardening as Analogy for Self‑Hosting

• Gardening vs supermarket is used to frame IndieWeb as optional craft vs necessity.
• Experiences differ: some find home‑growing inefficient and time‑consuming; others stress partial self‑reliance, skills, pleasure, and resilience—mirroring arguments about self‑hosting and personal sites.

Design, Content, and Audience

• Tension between maximalist personal expression (MySpace‑style, “Lisa Frank” sites) and minimalist, reader‑first design.
• One camp says the real value is standards‑based, reader‑friendly publishing, not visual gimmicks; another defends individualistic, even chaotic aesthetics as legitimate art, like unconventional books.
• Several note that most people neither want nor need a public site; for them, big platforms or email are simpler and socially denser.

Control, Regulation, and Infrastructure

• Concerns that regulation and technical norms (China’s licensing, HTTPS‑only, CA dependence) raise barriers for small sites and centralize control.
• Others counter that automated TLS lowers practical friction and protects users from ISP injection, though HTTPS‑only is criticized as brittle over long timescales.