indieweb.org

IndieWeb is a community of independent personal websites built around three principles: owning your domain and using it as your primary online identity, publishing on your own site first (optionally elsewhere), and owning your content. It is not a product, a single platform, or a service you sign up for — it is a people-focused alternative to the "corporate web," and the site at indieweb.org is its hub. If you want your posts to belong to you rather than a company, and you're willing to run your own site, IndieWeb is for you. If you're looking for a hosted tool that does everything for you, it isn't.

The core principles

The IndieWeb community defines itself by principles rather than a single project:

• Your content is yours. When you post on the web, it should belong to you, not a corporation. The community points out that too many companies have gone out of business and lost all of their users' data.
• You are better connected. Your articles and status messages can be distributed to any platform, not just one, so you can engage with everyone. Replies and likes on other services can come back to your site so they're all in one place.
• You are in control. You can post anything you want, in any format, with no one monitoring you. You also share simple, readable, permanent links such as example.com/ideas.

How it differs from other decentralization efforts

The site is explicit that IndieWeb is different from previous efforts and communities:

In practice, that means the community prioritizes making what you need, creating and iterating on your own site, and focusing on a good user experience with the minimum necessary formats and protocols.

What you actually do as a participant

1. Get started. The site's "Join the IndieWeb" section links to a Get Started guide.
2. Set up your own site with your own domain as your primary identity, and publish there first.
3. Connect and learn. Join the #indieweb chat (with a real-time log) to share your website, get inspiration, or ask about services and projects for setting up your IndieWeb site.
4. Keep up weekly. Read This Week in the IndieWeb for weekly highlights.
5. Blog with the community monthly. Several monthly collaborative blog carnivals let you join by posting on your own site: the IndieWeb Carnival, IndieWeb Movie Club, IndieWeb Book Club, and IndieWeb Fiction Carnival. Each month features a different topic, theme, or movie.
6. Meet locally. Homebrew Website Club is the community's recurring meetup format listed on the main page.

Is there a cost?

The main page mentions subscribing (the site's pricing signals include the keyword "subscribe"), but it does not state prices or login requirements. Treat any cost as something to confirm on the specific page or service you use — the site does not present itself as free or as requiring no login. The core model is that you own and host your own site, so your costs depend on the hosting and domain you choose.

Who should consider it

• Good fit: people who want a personal site as their primary identity, who care about content ownership and permanent links, and who are comfortable choosing their own tools and iterating.
• Poor fit: anyone expecting a single turnkey platform, a monoculture project that handles everything, or a corporate-hosted account where the company holds the data.

The clearest next step is to read the Get Started page, then join the #indieweb chat with your site (or your plan for one) and ask about services and projects that match what you want to publish.

The IndieWeb is not another decentralized protocol or a single alternative platform. It is a community of independent personal websites built on three principles: own your domain and use it as your primary online identity, publish on your own site first (optionally elsewhere), and own your content. Its difference from earlier decentralization and blogging efforts comes from how it organizes people and work: principles over project-centrism, a plurality of approaches instead of one mandated stack, and a bias toward publishing on your own site before debating formats.

Principles over project-centrism

Many decentralization efforts assume a monoculture: one protocol, one client, one correct way to participate. The IndieWeb page states the opposite directly — "Principles over project-centrism" and "We are developing a plurality of approaches and projects."

In practice this means you are not asked to adopt a specific software stack to belong. The shared commitments are behavioral:

• Your content belongs to you, not a corporation; the page notes that too many companies have gone out of business and lost all of their users' data.
• Your domain is your primary identity, with readable, permanent links such as example.com/ideas.
• You publish on your own site first, then optionally syndicate elsewhere, so replies and likes from other services can come back to your site and sit in one place.

A useful way to see the contrast: a protocol-first effort asks "which spec do you implement?" The IndieWeb asks "do you own your domain and publish there?" The tooling is expected to vary by person.

Publish on your site, show before tell

The community's stated priorities are "Publish on your site. Show before tell." and "Prioritize by making what you need, creating, iterating on your site."

This flips the usual order of decentralization projects, which often begin with specifications and reference implementations. Here, a working personal site with real posts is the entry ticket. The page also frames the effort as "Beyond Blogging and Decentralization" — the goal is a good user experience on your own site, not decentralization as an abstract end state.

For someone deciding where to start, the practical sequence is:

1. Register a domain you control and point it at a site you can edit.
2. Publish something real — a post, a note, a photo — at a permanent, readable URL.
3. Only then look at connecting that site to other platforms or adding IndieWeb features.

Design first, protocols and formats second

The page lists "Design first, protocols and formats second" and "Simpler building blocks," explaining that the community focuses on a good user experience and uses its own prototype features to settle on "minimum necessary formats and protocols."

The mechanism is prototype-driven standardization: features get built and used on community members' own sites first, and formats are adopted, improved, or created only when necessary. That is why the IndieWeb can host many projects at once without requiring agreement on a single architecture — the shared layer is the practice of owning and publishing on your own site, and the technical pieces stay as small as the community can make them.

A concrete example of the kind of task this produces: you want replies to a post to appear on your own site rather than only on the platform where they were written. Under a design-first approach you would build or configure the smallest thing that makes that visible on your site, then look at which open formats are needed to carry the data — rather than starting by choosing a federation protocol and reshaping your site around it.

What this means if you are choosing an approach

If your priority is a single interoperable network with one implementation path, a project-centric effort may match your needs better. If your priority is keeping your content and identity on infrastructure you control while choosing your own tools, the IndieWeb's model is designed for that — at the cost of assembling more of the pieces yourself.

Where to plug in

The site offers low-commitment ways to start and to stay connected: a "Get Started Now" entry point, the #indieweb chat with a real-time log for sharing your site and asking about services and projects, and the weekly "This Week in the IndieWeb" digest. For ongoing practice, monthly collaborative blog carnivals — the IndieWeb Carnival, Movie Club, Book Club, and Fiction Carnival — let you participate by posting on your own site. The page also mentions Homebrew Website Club meetups. The site's pricing signals mention "subscribe," but the page evidence does not state costs or access conditions for any of these, so check each entry point directly before relying on it.

The IndieWeb community runs activities that go beyond publishing posts on your own site. The main ones described on indieweb.org are monthly collaborative blog carnivals (IndieWeb Carnival, Movie Club, Book Club, and Fiction Carnival) and Homebrew Website Club gatherings. You take part by posting on your own site, so you keep your content and your domain while joining a shared theme with other people.

Monthly collaborative blog carnivals

The site describes these as monthly collaborative events: each month has a different topic, theme, or movie, and you join by writing about it on your own site. The four named carnivals are:

The common structure is the same in each case: a prompt is set, you publish your response on your own site, and the community reads and links to the responses. Because the post lives on your domain, it stays yours and remains reachable at a permanent link such as example.com/ideas.

How to take part

1. Check the current month's prompt. Each carnival has its own page on indieweb.org; look there for the theme, topic, or title in progress.
2. Write and publish on your own site first. This is the community's core principle: publish on your own site, optionally elsewhere afterward.
3. Share the post with the community. The site points to the #indieweb chat (with a real-time log) as the place to share your website, get inspiration, or ask about services and projects.
4. Verify it worked. Your post should be live at its own permanent URL on your domain, and you should be able to point others to that link directly.

A common sticking point is treating the carnival as a platform submission. It isn't: there is no central host holding your entry. If your post isn't on your own site, you haven't really joined in the way the community intends.

Homebrew Website Club

Homebrew Website Club is listed among the site's main activities as a gathering. The page presents it as a community meetup rather than a publishing format, so it complements the carnivals: the carnivals give you a monthly writing prompt, while the club is where people meet around building and improving their own sites. The site's broader ethos supports this — "show before tell," make what you need, iterate on your site, and design first with formats and protocols second.

If you want to attend, use the Homebrew Website Club page on indieweb.org for the current schedule and location details rather than relying on secondhand summaries.

Why these activities are structured this way

The IndieWeb describes itself as a people-focused alternative to the "corporate web," built on owning your domain as your primary identity, publishing on your own site first, and owning your content. The community also states that it favors "principles over project-centrism" and a plurality of approaches rather than one monoculture project. That explains the activity design: a shared monthly theme creates the social occasion, but the artifact always lives on each participant's own site. The site also notes a code of conduct for the community.

A concrete example: if the month's Movie Club pick is a film you've seen, you write your reaction on your blog at your own URL, then share that link in #indieweb. Readers reply on their own sites or on other services, and those replies can come back to your site so the conversation collects in one place — the site's stated benefit of being "better connected."

Choosing which activity fits you

• You want a low-pressure writing prompt: start with the IndieWeb Carnival, which is theme-based and not tied to a specific work.
• You prefer reacting to a shared text or film: the Book Club or Movie Club gives you a common subject.
• You write fiction: the Fiction Carnival is the themed option for stories.
• You'd rather talk than publish this month: Homebrew Website Club is the gathering-oriented entry point.

All of these assume one prerequisite: a personal site on your own domain where you can publish. If you don't have that yet, the site's "Get Started Now!" path and the #indieweb chat are the places it directs newcomers to for setup help.

Start by claiming a domain you control and publishing something there, then use the community's own entry points — the Get Started page, the #indieweb chat, and This Week in the IndieWeb — to choose tools and stay oriented. This guide fits anyone who wants a personal site as their primary online identity rather than a profile on someone else's platform. It does not require a particular platform, and the site does not state that any of these steps cost money or require an account beyond the chat.

What "getting started" actually means here

The IndieWeb describes itself as "a people-focused alternative to the 'corporate web'" and as a community of independent and personal websites built on three principles:

• Own your domain and use it as your primary online identity.
• Publish on your own site first, optionally elsewhere afterward.
• Own your content — it belongs to you, not a corporation.

The site frames the payoff in three claims: your content stays yours and in your control, your posts can be distributed to any platform rather than just one (with replies and likes from other services coming back to your site), and you can post anything in any format without monitoring, using permanent readable links such as example.com/ideas.

Step 1: Pick your starting point on the site

The main page offers a single direct action — a "Get Started Now!" link — plus a "Why IndieWeb?" page for the reasoning. Use the first if you want to begin building; use the second if you are still deciding whether the approach fits how you publish.

Decide what you are building first

The community's stated approach is "publish on your site. Show before tell," and it explicitly prioritizes "making what you need" and iterating on your own site over designing protocols and formats up front. In practice that means your first version can be a simple site with a few posts and a permanent link structure — not a fully federated setup.

Step 2: Join the #indieweb chat

The site points newcomers to the #indieweb chat (described as having a real-time log) for three concrete purposes:

• sharing your website,
• getting inspiration,
• asking about services and projects to set up your IndieWeb site.

This is the fastest way to resolve the practical question the site leaves open — which tools and services to use — because the answer depends on what you already have. Come with your domain and a description of your current setup, and ask which projects fit it.

Step 3: Follow This Week in the IndieWeb

The site recommends reading This Week in the IndieWeb for weekly highlights. Treat it as your ongoing source for what the community is building and discussing, rather than trying to absorb the whole wiki at once.

Step 4: Publish on a rhythm you can keep

Once your site exists, the community offers monthly collaborative blog carnivals that you join by posting on your own site. Each has a different topic, theme, or movie:

These are low-commitment ways to publish regularly and to see how other people structure posts on their own sites.

How to check you are on track

You have the basics in place when:

1. Your site lives on a domain you own and that domain is how you present yourself online.
2. Posts appear on your site first, with readable permanent links.
3. You can point to your content and say you control where it lives.

If a step feels blocked, the chat is the intended place to ask — the site directs questions about services and projects there rather than prescribing one stack.

Common sticking points

• Looking for a single official platform. The site is explicit that the effort differs from project-centric communities: it favors "principles over project-centrism" and is "developing a plurality of approaches and projects." Expect several valid paths, not one sanctioned tool.
• Trying to design formats before publishing. The stated order is "design first, protocols and formats second," with simpler building blocks adopted or created only when necessary. Build the site and the posting habit first.
• Skipping the community. Sharing your site in the chat and reading the weekly highlights are the site's own recommended starting moves; going it alone makes tool choices harder than they need to be.
• Ignoring conduct expectations. The community has a code of conduct, so read it before participating in shared spaces.

Where to go next

Begin with the Get Started page, then introduce your site in the #indieweb chat and subscribe to This Week in the IndieWeb. Add a monthly carnival once posting feels routine. For the underlying rationale, the site's "Why IndieWeb?" page and its section on going "beyond blogging and decentralization" explain how this community's approach differs from earlier efforts.

Joining the IndieWeb gives you three practical benefits: your content stays yours even if a company shuts down, your posts can reach multiple platforms while replies and likes flow back to your own site, and you control what you publish and how, under permanent readable links like example.com/ideas. It suits people who already have (or are willing to get) their own domain and want it to be their primary online identity — the community is built on owning your domain, publishing on your own site first, and owning your content.

Benefit 1: Your content belongs to you

The IndieWeb describes itself as "a people-focused alternative to the 'corporate web'." The core problem it addresses is stated plainly on the site: too many companies have gone out of business and lost all of their users' data. When you publish on the IndieWeb, your content stays yours and in your control.

This matters most in the failure case. If a platform you post on closes, content hosted there goes with it. Content on your own domain does not depend on any single company staying in business.

Condition to check first: this benefit only holds if you actually own the domain and host the content there. Posting on someone else's IndieWeb-friendly service without your own domain doesn't give you the same guarantee.

Benefit 2: You are better connected, not less

A common assumption is that leaving big platforms means losing reach. The IndieWeb's model is the opposite:

• Distribution outward: your articles and status messages can be distributed to any platform, not just one, so you can engage with everyone.
• Responses inward: replies and likes on other services can come back to your site, so they're all in one place.

In practice this means you publish once on your own site and syndicate copies elsewhere, while the conversation around each post is collected back on your original page. You get the reach of multiple platforms without fragmenting your own archive.

Benefit 3: You control format and links

On the IndieWeb you can post anything you want, in any format you want, with no one monitoring you. The site also emphasizes simple, readable, permanent links such as example.com/ideas — links that will always work.

Compare the two models on the same dimensions:

How the community works (and whether it fits you)

The IndieWeb is explicitly a community and a set of principles, not a single product. Its stated approach differs from earlier decentralization efforts in several ways:

• Principles over project-centrism. Rather than assuming one project for everyone, the community develops a plurality of approaches and projects.
• Publish on your site; show before tell. Members prioritize building what they need, creating and iterating on their own sites.
• Design first, protocols and formats second. The focus is a good user experience, using your own prototype features to settle on the minimum necessary formats and protocols.
• Simpler building blocks. Where needed, the community adopts, improves, and creates open specifications.
• A code of conduct applies to the community.

Ways to participate

• Get started with your own site, then join the #indieweb chat to share your website, get inspiration, or ask about services and projects for setting up an IndieWeb site.
• Read This Week in the IndieWeb for weekly highlights.
• Blog with the community monthly through collaborative blog carnivals, each with a different topic, theme, or movie: the IndieWeb Carnival, Movie Club, Book Club, and Fiction Carnival. You join by posting on your own site.

Who should join, and who should wait

Join if you want your domain to be your primary online identity, you're willing to publish on your own site first (optionally syndicating elsewhere), and you want your posts and their responses consolidated under your control.

Wait if you don't want to manage a domain or site at all — the ownership and permanence benefits depend on that step, and the community's "show before tell" ethos assumes you're building on your own site rather than only consuming.

The site's own framing is the simplest test: if losing a platform's data and reach is a risk you want to stop carrying, the IndieWeb's model of owning your domain, publishing first on your own site, and owning your content is designed for exactly that.