Indie Web: Reclaiming Digital Independence

Own your content and control your identity

The web was originally designed as a decentralized network where anyone could publish and connect. Over time, corporate platforms consolidated control, creating walled gardens where users are products and content is locked in. The Indie Web movement aims to restore the original promise of the web: personal ownership, creative freedom, and genuine connection.

indie web digital id

What is the Indie Web?

The Indie Web is a people-focused alternative to the “corporate web” that emphasizes personal websites and decentralized communication. It’s built on a set of principles that prioritize user control, data ownership, and open standards over platform dependency.

Core Principles

Own Your Data: Your content lives on your domain, not locked in a proprietary platform. If a service shuts down, your content persists.

Use Your Domain as Identity: Your identity is yourname.com, not @yourname on someone else’s platform. This creates a permanent, portable identity independent of any single service.

Publish on Your Own Site First: The POSSE principle (Publish Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere) means you create content on your site, then optionally share it to social platforms. Your site is the canonical source.

Own Your URLs: Permanent, meaningful URLs that you control ensure your content remains accessible and discoverable for years.

Build Tools for Yourself: Create solutions that work for your needs, not what a platform dictates. Share these tools with others.

Why the Indie Web Was Needed

The Corporate Web Problem

Social media platforms promised connection but delivered surveillance capitalism. Key issues include:

Data Mining: Your posts, photos, and interactions become training data and advertising profiles without meaningful consent.

Algorithmic Manipulation: Platforms control what you see and who sees your content, optimizing for engagement (often outrage) rather than value.

Platform Lock-in: Your content and social connections are trapped. Moving platforms means starting over.

Censorship and Arbitrary Rules: Platforms can suspend accounts, hide content, or change policies without recourse.

Digital Sharecropping: You build an audience and create value, but the platform owns the relationship and extracts the economic benefit.

The Need for Alternatives

The Indie Web emerged from frustration with these limitations and a desire to return to web fundamentals: personal expression, decentralized control, and interoperability through open standards.

Advantages and Benefits

Personal Freedom

Creative Control: Design your site exactly how you want. No imposed templates or character limits.

Content Ownership: Your writing, photos, and ideas remain yours. No terms of service claiming rights to your content.

Longevity: Your site persists as long as you maintain it. No platform shutdowns erasing years of work.

Technical Benefits

Portability: Static sites and open formats make migration between hosting providers trivial.

Performance: Without tracking scripts and algorithmic feeds, personal sites load faster and respect user privacy.

Search Engine Optimization: Your own domain builds authority over time, improving discoverability compared to platform-specific profiles.

Community and Connection

Authentic Interaction: Direct communication without algorithms filtering or prioritizing sensational content.

Ownership of Social Graph: Your connections exist in formats you control (RSS feeds, webrings, blogrolls).

Cross-Platform Interaction: Webmentions and open protocols enable conversation across independent sites.

Methods, Technologies, and Tools

Foundational Technologies

Microformats

Microformats add semantic meaning to HTML, making your content machine-readable while remaining human-friendly. Key formats include:

h-card: Digital business card with contact information h-entry: Blog posts, notes, and articles h-feed: Lists of h-entries (blog archives)

Example h-entry markup:

<article class="h-entry">
  <h1 class="p-name">My Article Title</h1>
  <p class="p-summary">A brief description</p>
  <div class="e-content">
    The full article content goes here.
  </div>
  <footer>
    <a class="u-url" href="https://example.com/post">Permalink</a>
    <time class="dt-published" datetime="2025-10-16">Oct 16, 2025</time>
    <a class="p-author h-card" href="https://example.com">Author Name</a>
  </footer>
</article>

Webmentions

Webmentions are a W3C recommendation for peer-to-peer commenting and interaction. When your site is mentioned elsewhere:

  1. The mentioning site sends a webmention to your endpoint
  2. Your site verifies the mention exists
  3. The mention appears as a comment or interaction on your post

Popular webmention services:

  • Webmention.io: Free hosted endpoint
  • Bridgy: Backfeeds interactions from social media
  • Telegraph: Webmention sending service

IndieAuth

IndieAuth enables sign-in using your domain name, eliminating password fatigue and giving you authentication portability. It builds on OAuth 2.0 and uses your domain as identity.

Static Site Generators

Static sites offer security, performance, and simplicity - perfect for Indie Web principles.

Hugo

The generator powering this very site. Hugo’s advantages:

  • Blazing fast build times (milliseconds for hundreds of pages)
  • Single binary deployment
  • Powerful templating with Go templates
  • Built-in asset pipelines
  • Excellent multilingual support

Basic Hugo setup with Indie Web features:

# Install Hugo
brew install hugo  # macOS
# or download from gohugo.io

# Create new site
hugo new site mysite
cd mysite

# Add microformats to templates
# Edit layouts/_default/single.html to include h-entry classes

Jekyll

Ruby-based generator with extensive plugin ecosystem:

  • GitHub Pages native support
  • Large community and themes
  • Webmention plugins available
  • Liquid templating

Eleventy (11ty)

JavaScript-based with flexibility:

Content Management

Micropub

A W3C standard for publishing posts to your site using apps. Write from your phone, desktop, or other tools while content lands on your domain.

Micropub-compatible apps:

  • Indigenous: iOS and Android clients
  • Quill: Web-based editor
  • OwnYourSwarm: Post Swarm check-ins to your site
  • OwnYourGram: Post Instagram photos to your site

Git-Based Workflows

Many Indie Web users treat their site as code:

# Write a new post
echo "---
title: My Thoughts Today
date: 2025-10-16
---
Content here" > content/posts/thoughts.md

# Build and deploy
hugo
git add .
git commit -m "New post"
git push

# Automated deployment via GitHub Actions, Netlify, etc.

Hosting Solutions

Self-Hosting

Ultimate control with your own server:

VPS Providers: DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr Requirements: Basic Linux knowledge, web server (nginx, Apache) Cost: $5-10/month for small sites

Example nginx configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name yourdomain.com;
    root /var/www/yoursite;
    index index.html;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }

    # Webmention endpoint proxy
    location /webmention {
        proxy_pass https://webmention.io/yourdomain.com/webmention;
    }
}

Static Hosting

Modern platforms purpose-built for static sites:

Netlify: Free tier, automatic builds from Git, edge CDN Vercel: Similar features, excellent Next.js integration Cloudflare Pages: Free unlimited bandwidth, fast global CDN GitHub Pages: Free with limitations, simple Jekyll integration

Traditional Shared Hosting

Often overlooked but reliable:

Nearly Free Speech: Strong free speech commitments DreamHost: WordPress-friendly, good support Pair Networks: Reliable, established provider

Syndication and Social Integration

POSSE Tools

Publish once, distribute everywhere:

Bridgy: Backfeeds comments from Twitter, Mastodon, Facebook IFTTT/Zapier: Automation workflows for cross-posting Custom scripts: RSS-to-social-media posting

Example Python script for RSS-to-Mastodon:

import feedparser
from mastodon import Mastodon

# Initialize Mastodon client
mastodon = Mastodon(access_token='your_token',
                    api_base_url='https://mastodon.social')

# Parse your site's RSS
feed = feedparser.parse('https://yoursite.com/feed.xml')

# Post new entries
for entry in feed.entries[:1]:  # Latest post
    status = f"{entry.title}\n\n{entry.link}"
    mastodon.status_post(status)

RSS Readers

RSS remains the backbone of decentralized content distribution:

Feedbin: Web-based, clean interface NewsBlur: Social features, open source NetNewsWire: Native iOS/macOS app self-hosted: FreshRSS, Miniflux, Tiny Tiny RSS

Discovery and Community

Webrings

Old-school navigation returning to fashion:

<div class="webring">
  <a href="https://example.com/webring/prev">← Previous</a>
  <a href="https://example.com/webring/">Webring Name</a>
  <a href="https://example.com/webring/next">Next →</a>
</div>

Curated lists of sites you follow, helping readers discover new voices:

## People I Read

- [Site Name](https://example.com) - Brief description
- [Another Site](https://another.example) - What they write about

IndieWeb.xyz and Indieweb.org

Central directories and resources:

  • Wiki documentation
  • Community chat (IRC, Discord)
  • IndieWebCamp events
  • Getting started guides

Perspectives and Alternatives

The Fediverse

Decentralized social networking using ActivityPub protocol:

Mastodon: Twitter-like microblogging Pixelfed: Instagram alternative WriteFreely: Minimalist blogging platform PeerTube: Video hosting

Integration with Indie Web:

  • Bridgy Fed connects personal sites to ActivityPub
  • Syndicate posts to Mastodon while keeping your site as primary source
  • Use Mastodon.py or similar for automation

Gemini Protocol

Deliberate simplicity, rejecting web complexity:

  • Text-focused protocol
  • No JavaScript, cookies, or tracking
  • Lightweight client/server model
  • Growing community of “gemini capsules”

Example gemini document (gemtext):

# Welcome to My Gemlog

This is a paragraph with no markup or styling.

=> /posts/article.gmi Link to another article
=> https://example.com External link

Gopher Revival

Even more minimal than Gemini, with a nostalgic 1990s aesthetic. Small but dedicated community maintaining gopher holes.

Email Newsletters

Substack, Ghost, and self-hosted options:

Advantages: Direct inbox delivery, reader ownership Disadvantages: Platform dependency (unless self-hosted)

Indie Web approach: Offer RSS and email subscription, host newsletter archive on your site.

Private/Encrypted Options

For privacy-focused communication:

Matrix: Federated encrypted chat Scuttlebutt: Peer-to-peer social network Secure Scuttlebutt: Offline-first, decentralized

Getting Started: A Practical Roadmap

Phase 1: Establish Your Domain (Week 1)

  1. Register a domain ($10-15/year at Namecheap, Porkbun, Hover)
  2. Choose hosting (Netlify free tier recommended for beginners)
  3. Set up basic static site with Hugo or Jekyll
  4. Add h-card with your information

Phase 2: Content and Structure (Weeks 2-4)

  1. Migrate existing content or write initial posts
  2. Implement microformats (h-entry for posts)
  3. Create RSS feed (usually automatic with generators)
  4. Add blogroll and about page

Phase 3: Indie Web Features (Weeks 5-8)

  1. Set up webmention endpoint (Webmention.io)
  2. Add webmention display to post templates
  3. Configure IndieAuth
  4. Test sending/receiving webmentions

Phase 4: Syndication and Automation (Ongoing)

  1. Set up Bridgy for backfeeding
  2. Create POSSE workflows
  3. Join webring or create discovery features
  4. Engage with other Indie Web sites

Challenges and Considerations

Technical Barriers

While tools have improved, some technical knowledge helps. The community provides extensive documentation, but expect a learning curve.

Discovery Problem

Without algorithmic feeds and centralized platforms, finding new content requires active curation through RSS, webrings, and directories. This is both a feature (intentional discovery) and a challenge (reduced serendipity).

Maintenance Responsibility

You’re responsible for backups, security updates, and keeping your site running. Trade-off between control and convenience.

Network Effects

Your friends might not have personal sites yet. The Indie Web works best when more people participate, but you can start alone and syndicate to existing platforms.

Conclusion

The Indie Web represents a return to the web’s original promise: a decentralized space for personal expression, creative experimentation, and genuine human connection. While corporate platforms offer convenience and network effects, they come at the cost of freedom, ownership, and privacy.

Building an Indie Web presence isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. You can start with a simple site and gradually add features. Syndicate to social media while maintaining your own archive. Use platform APIs while they exist but keep your content safe on your domain.

The tools have never been better: static site generators are powerful and accessible, hosting is cheap or free, and open standards enable interoperability. The community is welcoming and eager to help newcomers.

Most importantly, owning your corner of the web is deeply satisfying. It’s a digital space that reflects your personality, values, and interests without algorithmic manipulation or corporate interference. In an age of increasing platform consolidation, the Indie Web offers hope for a more open, creative, and human internet.

Getting Started

Tools and Services

Resources

  • Hugo - Fast, flexible static site generator
  • Jekyll - Ruby-based, GitHub Pages compatible
  • Eleventy - JavaScript, multiple template languages

Hosting Options

Community

Further Reading