Skip to content

Commit

Permalink
Reword intro and add more resources
Browse files Browse the repository at this point in the history
  • Loading branch information
villasv committed Feb 20, 2024
1 parent 52edda8 commit 2c47bd7
Showing 1 changed file with 28 additions and 23 deletions.
51 changes: 28 additions & 23 deletions app/(aspects)/words/www/page.mdx
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,30 +1,30 @@
# 🌐 Independent Webster

The web is a cool place. We have many platforms, social networks, never-ending
content, independent websites; and most of it was built on technology intended
to be decentralized and democratic, which greatly contributed to a diversity of
participating services and organizations.
content, and lots of interesting people creating independent websites; and most
of it was built on technology intended to be decentralized and democratic, which
greatly contributed to a diversity of participating parties.

Alas, after a few decades observing this ecosystem evolve comes the realization
of the limitations and wasted potential. Silos thrived while open platforms
struggle to self sustain. Network effects and cutthroat competition leading to
consolidation. Each service welcomes more content but is resistant to letting
users get it elsewhere.
of current limitations and wasted potential: [silos][] thriving while open
platforms struggle to self sustain; network effects and cutthroat competition
leading to consolidation; anti-competitive conglomerates welcoming more user
content but preventing those outside the walled garden from accessing it.

[silos]: https://indieweb.org/silo

Corporations behind big platforms are financially incentivized to cut off the
competition and constrain the users who supposedly own the content they produce.
Hoarding and monetizing data is how these companies are able to grow engagement
for their ads and services businesses, so strong regulation is generally the
only reason why a silo would open up.
only reason why a silo would open up. But policymaking is slow and overloaded
with tough decisions, having to react to an ever changing technology landscape
and fight against the interests of the biggest corporations in the world.

But policymaking is slow and overloaded with tough decisions, having to react to
an ever changing technology landscape and fight against the interests of the
biggest corporations in the world. It is vital, but it takes time. Fortunately
there's no need to wait. The independent web, IndieWeb for short, is a
grassroots movement to nudge the web back into a more decentralized but
interconnected place.
The inevitably political fight for a better Internet is vital and I'm hopeful we
as a society can and will do better, but it takes time. Fortunately there's no
need to wait. The independent web, IndieWeb for short, is a grassroots movement
to nudge the web back into a more decentralized but interconnected place.

[Read more...](https://indieweb.org/why)
Read more at [indieweb.org/why](https://indieweb.org/why).

## Owning a Domain Name

Expand All @@ -35,17 +35,20 @@ carefully and considered permanent as much as possible. A domain costs money,
but a cheap one costs less than a telephone landline.

There are a few tools like [CunningBot][] that can help choosing a domain name
and others like [Instant Domain Search][] that can quickly search under which
[TLD][]s a name is available. There are also tools like [Namechk][] that probe
if common platforms and social networks will have that name as an available
handles, which is nice for consistency.
and others like [Instant Domain Search][] and [Website Planet][] that can
quickly search under which [TLD][]s a name is available. There are also tools
like [Namechk][] that probe if common platforms and social networks will have
that name as an available handles, which is nice for consistency.

[CunningBot]: https://cunningbot.com
[Instant Domain Search]: https://instantdomainsearch.com/
[Website Planet]: https://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/domain-name-generator/
[TLD]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-level_domain
[Namechk]: https://namechk.com

## Custom Email Address
Read more at [indieweb.org/personal-domain](https://indieweb.org/personal-domain).

### Bonus: Custom Email Address

If a purchasing a domain name is like buying a virtual plot of land, configuring
an email would be the equivalent of installing a mail box able to receive the
Expand All @@ -61,7 +64,7 @@ future without having to change email address, thus avoiding the hassle of
notifying contacts and updating sign-ups everywhere. Just point the address to a
different mailbox and start receiving new mail there. This freedom reduces
lock-in to specific platforms and is a simple yet effective way to diminish
corporations' hold on the ecosystem.
corporations' hold on your communications.

## A Personal Website

Expand All @@ -73,3 +76,5 @@ the web.

Static website hosting is cheap - often free - and powerful enough for the vast
majority of use cases.

Read more at [indieweb.org/homepage](https://indieweb.org/homepage).

0 comments on commit 2c47bd7

Please sign in to comment.