Explorations - August 2026

08-30-2026

I've been reading around the Indie Web a bit in the past week or so. So I just wanted to share some articles I think are worth reading, along with some quick thoughts. There's no hierarchy or particular order here; basically just going through my open tabs and a couple of recent bookmarks.

Re-defining the IndieWeb

- by V.H. Belvadi, full post here.

First of all, I love the design of the website.

That said, I found a lot of the author's arguments very interesting in the way he points out the problems with defining the IndieWeb. But then the conclusion, after all that very high level exposition of the problem, seems a little anti-climactic; the new definition seems way too vague:

The IndieWeb is a space comprising websites whose domain ownership and organisational, operational and editorial sovereignty remain with an individual or non-corporate group of individuals, free from external obligations that compromise that sovereignty.

I get that the author wants to offer a definition that's inclusive and wide, but I think it's at least missing something about the purpose. The IndieWeb, to me, is not just any random site that happens to be owned and operated by the same person or group, that could describe a whole lot of websites that I wouldn't call IndieWeb. I believe there is a certain intentionality to this, even if I agree that we are not necessarily a community. We certainly don't need to all talk about the same topics or have the same opinions. We may have wildly different aesthetic sensibilities and all manner of different interests.

Anyway, good read.

Towards a personal online third-space

- by Ana Rodrigues. Full post here.

Again, beautiful website, invites exploration, feels quirky and polished at the same time; cyber-punk, yet cozy. The author mentions somewhere that she's a front-end web developer for many years, so I guess that explains it.

I enjoyed the text very much. The idea of making your website your home on the Internet and at the same time a third place might feel a little contradictory. But at the same time maybe not. A third place is a place where you enjoy just hanging out, sometimes with friends, sometimes by yourself; a home is the place where you feel most confortable, most yourself.

I want my personal website to be like visiting my living room in my home.
Come hang out with me. Look at my bookshelf.

I relate with the idea of making my website a place where, first and foremost, I like to hang out; and at the same time, I feel comfortable to share it with friends.

z1nz0l1n.com

Overall awsome blog. Love the design, it feels very straight-to-the-point how it puts the most recent blog entry right in the hompage. The writing is great. Talks a lot about Apple products, which is not my cup of tea, but he talks about many other things too, and a good writer can write about almost anything that they are interested in and make you engaged. I particarly enjoyed a post about repairing an old typewriter and I first came across it because somebody shared a short story submitted for an IndieWeb Carnival: They said the web was dead, which was pretty good, in the end I'd say a little too on-the-nose about promoting IndieWeb.org meetups, maybe, but good.

Dead Internet Theory: Most of the Internet is Fake

I came across the original post, allegedly, that created the whole concept. It goes a little hard on conspiracy theory territory, but very interesting. When people speak of the "Dead Internet Theory" nowadays they talk about it more in the sense that AI generated slop is flooding the servers and our social media feeds blog sites, even the news, and it's just rotting our brain with cheap, thoughtless content, not so much that it's a CIA-backed operation deliberately designed to steer public opinion in one direction...

But it does bring up a few, uh... interesting coincidences...

I think the whole concept is particularly important for indie-webbers (is that a thing? if not, I'm inventing it), because of our focus on self-made, self-owned content, DIY ethos. Pretty much everybody in this space is aware on some level or another of the concept, but I don't think everyone or even most have read the originator post, at least I hadn't until now.

The Indie Web is Punk

The Indie Web is the counterculture of the Internet itself and compares to punk music in more than one way: it's anti-corporatism, it's DIY ethos. We are swimming against the tide and I believe it's equal parts we want to actually foster some change with the Internet in general, but also if not, then just leave us alone, let us carve a small space over here and do our thing.

This came from a couple of articles I came across. First, The IndieWeb is Punk Manifesto by Jim Mitchell, wich was inspired by this post by Jamie Thingelstad.

And that's it for the recomendations. I want to do this a periodic thing, so I'll try to keep sharing interesting posts I find around the interwebs, with some brief commentary, every now and then. Also remember to check out my More for adittional recommended links.

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