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Brennan's IndieWeb Themes, Tools, & Resources

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ORIGINAL: https://brennan.day/indieweb/

What is the IndieWeb?

The IndieWeb is a people-focused alternative to the "corporate web." It's about owning your domain, creating your content, and connecting with others on your own terms--not through algorithmic feeds designed to maximize engagement and extract value.

I think of the IndieWeb as an umbrella definition that encapsulates the small web, the old web, the good internet, and the human web. It's a movement to reclaim the internet as a tool for empowerment and creativity, not surveillance and monetization.

🌟 Essential Resource: 32-bit Cafe's Personal Web Resource List -- An incredible curated collection of tools, platforms, and communities for building your corner of the web.

My Core Principles

I believe the fundamentals of the IndieWeb should go beyond just ownership and control. Here's what guides my work:

1. Good faith code. Good faith writing.

This is the biggest separation from mainstream corporate oligopoly social media platforms. If you're on the IndieWeb, you're not publishing your site with invasive trackers, annoying advertisements, bloated webpages or a11y-hostile design.

Likewise, you aren't writing from a place of bad faith, such as assuming the worst in others or having a general misanthropic view of things. To be a netizen on the IndieWeb, you have to have the belief the Internet can still be good and a tool for empowerment and creativity.

2. A Pro-social Attitude

The web is meant to be social! That's the whole point of being online. To cultivate friendships and a community of other pro-social people who share your interests.

You don't need to syndicate your work or have "likes" on your blog posts, but I do believe there should be some sort of dialogue available, rather than a one-way shouting-into-the-void experience. Your site should have some sort of social element, even if it's as simple as basic contact information.

3. Be Fun. Be Accessible. Be Small.

Your site can have personality and express yourself in ways that sterile, boring, all-look-the-same corporate social media platforms never allow. But it also needs to be accessible to everyone--working with screen readers, following WCAG guidelines, and embracing the POUR principles (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust).

And your site needs to be small. Performance is fundamental to whether people can actually access your work. Compress images, use lazy loading, embrace progressive enhancement. Your site should function without JavaScript, because JavaScript can fail to load for countless reasons.

4. The Official IndieWeb Definition

According to IndieWeb.org, the IndieWeb is a community of independent and personal websites based on three core principles: owning your domain and using it as your primary online identity, publishing on your own site first (optionally elsewhere), and owning your content. Your content is yours, you are better connected, and you are in control.

The IndieWeb is a Spectrum

There is no "perfect" IndieWeb site. Even if you're running your own server on bare metal, your domain is still managed by a registrar, your HTTPS connection relies on certificate authorities, and your electricity comes from a utility company. And that's okay!

My first principle is that we use good faith tools made by good people. It's the honour system. It's trust. Faith in humanity and other people. That's a good thing to keep and protect and grow and nourish.

That's exactly why we're here. That's why we're building the IndieWeb in the first place. <3

Why Move Off Corporate Social Media?

Corporate social media platforms are designed to extract value from you, not serve you. Here's why leaving them matters:

Your data is the product. Corporate platforms monetize your attention, personal information, and social connections. Every post, like, and share is tracked to build detailed profiles sold to advertisers and data brokers.

Algorithms control what you see. Instead of chronological feeds from people you choose to follow, corporate platforms use opaque algorithms designed to maximize engagement--often by promoting outrage, polarization, and content that keeps you scrolling.

You don't own your content. When you post on corporate platforms, you're renting space on their servers. They can delete your content, shadowban your account, or shut down entirely--taking years of your work with them.

Platforms extract value from creators. Whether it's YouTube taking 45% of ad revenue, Substack taking 10% of subscriptions, or Medium paying pennies per view, corporate platforms capture the value creators generate.

Surveillance is the business model. Corporate platforms track you across the internet, building comprehensive profiles of your behavior, interests, and relationships. This surveillance capitalism fuels advertising and influences what you see.

Communities are disposable. When corporate platforms change policies, shut down features, or close entirely, communities built over years can disappear overnight. Your connections exist only at the platform's pleasure.

The alternative exists. You can own your domain, control your content, and connect with others through decentralized, community-driven platforms that respect your privacy and autonomy.

Corporate Social Media Alternatives

The IndieWeb isn't just about having your own website, it's about leaving extractive, algorithmic corporate platforms that monetize your attention and data. Here are decentralized, community-driven alternatives to the major corporate social media silos:

Microblogging (Twitter/X Alternatives)

Photo Sharing (Instagram Alternatives)

Video Sharing (YouTube Alternatives)

Community & Discussion (Reddit Alternatives)

Real-time Chat (Discord/Slack Alternatives)

Long-form Writing (Medium/Substack Alternatives)

Directory & Discovery

How to Get Started Making Your Own Site

You don't need to be a developer to own your corner of the internet. Here are my recommendations for different skill levels:

Level 0: No Code Required

Level 1: Learn HTML & CSS

Level 2: Static Site Generators

My IndieWeb Projects

I build accessible, sustainable web experiences that prioritize user privacy and community benefit. Most of my work focuses on creating JAMstack themes and tools that empower writers and creators to own their content while participating in the IndieWeb movement.

Unless otherwise noted, all projects are released under the AGPL License.

dynamic list: see the original

View all my projects →

More Resources & Further Reading

Discovery & Community

Search Engines

Directories

Web 1.0 Culture

Philosophy & Principles

Advanced Topics

IndieWeb Standards

Why This Matters

The independent web is already here, thriving while Big Tech collapses in real-time under its own extractive weight. Writers, artists, poets, and creators are building their own spaces, linking to each other, forming communities based on shared interests rather than algorithmic recommendations.

The technology serves the writing, not the other way around.

You don't need a perfect site. You don't need to understand every technical detail. You just need a place to post, and the willingness to share it.

I write what I want, when I want, how I want. That freedom is worth every hour spent learning HTML.

My Writing on the IndieWeb

I've written extensively about the IndieWeb, independent publishing, and building a better internet:

Starting Out

Community and Connection

Building It Yourself

The Bigger Picture

Other Writing

View all posts →

Join Me

The only thing missing is you. Start small. Buy a domain. Write a post. Link to someone else's work. See how it feels to own your corner of the internet.

The tools are here. The community is welcoming. The independent web needs more people willing to do the work of building community outside of corporate spaces.

Contact: mail@brennanbrown.ca | Mastodon: @brennan@social.lol