Into The Personal Website Verse Wide 01

Into the Personal-Website-Verse

Social media in 2019 is a garbage fire.

What started out as the most promising development in the history of the Web – the participation of users in the creation of content and online dialogue at scale – has turned into a swamp of sensation, lies, hate speech, harassment, and noise.

Your Unfriendly Neighborhood

Craving for attention and engagement, our timelines have changed. Algorithms now prioritize content from people with a huge following and everything that is loud and outrageous. It’s all about what the masses and the bots “want”, what they will like, share, and click. This strategy might be driving sales of ads because traditional online marketers are obsessed with quantity and it is – besides selling user data – the only answer they found for venture capital constantly demanding a bang for the buck. Yet it leads to an experience that is so often just more of the same and at the same time much less predictable, less organic, and less adjustable to your own preferences. As Craig Mod writes, “social networks seem more and more to say: You don’t know what you want, but we do.”

Consequently, it has become substantially harder for people with a small to medium following to get their voices heard and find a practical and creative use for services like Twitter or Medium. Twitter, for example, used to be that place where you would meet nice and brilliant people from the web community and make new friends, where you could find and share ideas and inspiration. But Twitter has changed so drastically and I’ve seen so many people turning quiet or leaving completely, that I don’t know how long this journey will continue. As with so many technologies before, the initial hopeful enthusiasm that accompanied the rise of social media has given way to disillusionment.

One day, Twitter and other publishing platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Medium will indeed die, like so many sites before them. And every time this happens, we lose most of the content we created and with it a fair amount of our collective cultural history.

Data loss isn’t our only problem, though. If you decide to publish your work on a platform like Medium, you’re giving away control over it. What if Medium suddenly decided to extend the already existing paywall to all articles? There’s not much you could do about it. Simply because you don’t own your content anymore.

Maybe this wouldn’t be a big issue if owning your content today wasn’t more important than ever. Especially, but not only, if you are working as an independent or freelancer, your content is not just something you happen to have created – and for which you own the copyright of, by the way – but it is also part of your identity. It is part of who you are, what you’re thinking about, what you believe in, and what you’re up to. It is part of the story you are about to tell. It is part of the change you seek to make. Your content is one of your most valuable assets and thus owning it is invaluable.

So it comes as no surprise that more and more people are looking for alternatives. Not only for alternatives to Twitter or Medium per se but to the way social media currently works in general. Many are craving for more control, less noise, and for having more real and meaningful conversations again.

Homecoming

There is one alternative to social media sites and publishing platforms that has been around since the early, innocent days of the web. It is an alternative that provides immense freedom and control: The personal website. It’s a place to write, create, and share whatever you like, without the need to ask for anyone’s permission. It is also the perfect place to explore and try new things, because, as Seth Godin likes to say, we now live in a world of “unlimited bowling”. It is totally up to you what you create and because you have unlimited shots on the Web, you can try out different formats, different styles, different topics. Regardless of what other people might think and although it might not work. Creation is free.

A personal website is also a powerful playground to tinker with new technologies and discover your powers. Take Rachel Andrew’s and Sara Soueidan’s word for it:

I couldn’t agree more. Building things for your own site is so worthwhile because you are allowed to make mistakes and learn without pressure. If it doesn’t work today, well, maybe it’ll work tomorrow. It doesn’t matter. And so it was on my own site that I, too, wrote my first service worker, that I first tried out CSS Grid, that I designed and implemented a custom syntax highlighting theme, that I set up an RSS/Atom and JSON feed, that I wrote three plugins for Craft CMS in PHP/Yii, and Twig, with one of those plugins adding Webmention support to my site. I also learned a ton about accessibility, performance optimization, or web font loading. All of which I then could put to use in my day-to-day work as a designer and developer.

But maybe the most compelling reason why a personal website and also learning how to build one is incredibly valuable is this: community. Since the days of “guest books”, personal websites have been a place to receive feedback and discuss ideas and concepts with others. Often by the means of comments, sometimes even by writing a series of follow-up articles back and forth.

Now imagine, for a moment, an environment where a decentralized fabric of connected personal sites allows everyone to publish their own content but also enables each individual to engage in an open discussion – answering, challenging, and acknowledging the ideas of others through this universe of personal sites.

As idealistic as this vision of the Web might seem these days, it isn’t that far out of reach. Much of what’s needed, especially the publishing part, is already there. It’s also not as if our sites weren’t already connected in one way or another. Yet much of the discussions and establishment of connections, of that social glue that holds our community together – besides community events in real life, of course –, mostly happens on social media platforms at the moment. But: this is a choice. If we would make the conscious decision to find better ways to connect our personal sites and to enable more social interaction again, and if we would then persistently work on this idea, then we could, bit by bit, influence the development of Web technologies into this direction. What we would end up with is not only a bunch of personal websites but a whole interconnected personal-website-verse.

Weaving Our Web

It’s, of course, safe to assume that a web of personal websites will never be an equivalent substitute for a social network like Twitter. But that’s also not the goal. Personal websites are called personal websites because they are just that: personal. Thus, the primary objective still is to have a place to express ourselves, to explore ourselves, a place that lasts while the daily storms pass by. A place of consideration, and yes, a place of proudly sharing what we do, what we think, and what we care about. A place to contribute your voice and help others. A home on the internet. A place to tell your story.

But on top of that, we have the chance to (re-)establish personal websites also as central elements of online discourse and as entry points for people who are new to the web community. For this, we need to find ways to create an ecosystem that lives up to the diversity of the personal-website-verse. Consequently, what will hold our sites together, is most possibly not one technology to rule them all, but a multitude of different and ever-evolving technologies. Things like hyperlinks, comments, Webmentions, and RSS, of course, but also other technologies that have yet to be invented. Not only would this leave enough room for individual preferences, but it would also make the whole construct more resilient while still being flexible enough to evolve over time.

The first step of this is to explore more ways to establish new and strengthen existing connections – and also to improve findability. We don’t have to reinvent everything from scratch but can build on so much that already exists. Some things that can serve as good starting points are:

Quote people and link to other sites.

Whenever you stumble upon an interesting thought on another site, write about it and link to it. Not only is it respectful to link to the person you quoted, but hyperlinks are also the magic force holding the Web together. They are both helpful and powerful. You can also add a links section to your site, where you collect interesting links you found on the web and over time build an archive for yourself and others.

By the way: What happened to the blogroll? Remember? That little box in the sidebar of blogs that would link to the websites of friends and fellow bloggers. The blogroll isn’t dead yet – some people still use it. So how about adding a little section or page to your site that does exactly the same? Link to the personal websites of people you respect and appreciate, maybe with a little description? While we’re on it, we could also bring webrings back. Charlie Owen recently also wrote about them and Max Böck was so inspired he built a starter kit for hosting your own webring.

Use RSS feeds and readers.

RSS has been pronounced dead over and over again, yet it is still not dead and I doubt that it ever will be. In fact, it is witnessing a little comeback from time to time. Personally, I have started to use it more regularly again and others have, too. RSS is a great way to follow the people whose posts, ideas, and opinions matter to you. So if you write or put any kind of content on your site, also make sure to add an RSS feed. And then go and add some sites to a feed reader like Feedbin, Feedly, or Michael Scharnagl’s Feediary. If you use a Mac or iOS device, also have a look at Reeder.

Use website directories.

There are a few really helpful directories that list RSS feeds or personal sites and that can help you find interesting content. For example, Andy Bell’s personalsit.es, Dave Winer’s feedbase, the IndieWeb Directory, or RSS lists like the ones of Sime Vidas or Stuart Robson.

Use Webmentions and Microformats – and join the IndieWeb.

Another powerful technology which can glue our sites together is Webmention. Webmention is a W3C recommendation that describes a simple protocol to notify any URL when a website links to it, and for web pages to request notifications when somebody links to them. The mentioned site can then grab a snippet of the HTML of the website that links to it and, if it is enriched with Microformats, display the mention somewhere, for example under a blog post like this one. Aside from all questions of data protection, Webmentions are a powerful tool and one of the many technologies that originated in the IndieWeb community. If you don’t know about the IndieWeb yet, take a look at my article on reclaiming control over your content, or head over to indieweb.org. Built around the basic idea that you should own your content, the IndieWeb community is the birthplace of a few powerful technologies that all have the goal to make your personal website the center of a more open, decentralized web.

Webmentions are a great way to connect and intertwine two sites and thus, two ideas. You could even build something like a commenting system around Webmention – if only it still wasn’t a bit complicated for mere mortals to implement them. Luckily, there are plugins available for content management systems like Wordpress, ProcessWire, or Perch. I will update my own Webmention plugin for Craft CMS over the coming weeks so that it supports the latest version 3 of Craft CMS.

Go to meetups and conferences and spread the word.

There are meetups for everything and they are a great place to meet like-minded people, exchange, connect, and tell others about how great having a personal website is. So look up if there’s maybe a meetup about blogging in your city. Also, meetups on topics like WordPress, writing, or publishing in general could be worth a visit. Then there are more and more Homebrew Website Clubs emerging. Homebrew Website Clubs, which are also an IndieWeb idea, are a great opportunity to work with others on your personal sites once or twice a month. And if you don’t find an appropriate meetup or event near you, how about starting one?

“Don’t do it like me. Do it like you.”

As you can see, there are many ways and many good reasons to start building your site today. But whatever you start, keep in mind that you don’t have to build something from start to finish to show it to the world. To the contrary, it can be a great idea to start as simple and rudimentary as possible, to get the fundamentals right before diving too deep into over-complicated solutions. Take your time to think about how to build a site that’s truly tailored to you and your work. What are you really trying to achieve? What content do you want to create? Who is your audience? And how does a website look like that reflects all that in terms of structure, hierarchy, complexity, visual design, and scope?

Kylie Timpani, for example, who recently worked as the lead designer on v17 of CSS-Tricks, is now doing an open redesign of her website. So she is building the website out in the open, starting with some blank and raw HTML, and will be documenting what she’s learning along the way. This, by the way, is generally a great thing to do on your site: Document your process and share all the things you learn. Amber Wilson is doing this on her site, too. Since she decided to become a web developer, she regularly writes about her experience and what she learned. Not only is this a great way to help others find their way, but it also shows that we all have to learn and we all have things we don't know. Don’t let that stop you.

Also, don’t hesitate to write about little ideas and observations that might seem too small or unimportant to share. We all have our unique perspectives and even the smallest experience is worth sharing. Someone else might be in a similar situation as you or also in a completely different situation. They both might learn something new from reading about your experiences. Each contribution to the community, even the smallest one, is useful and will make a change. So just write. By the way: If you are struggling to find something to write about and feel blocked, remember that there is no such thing as writer‘s block. The more you write and create, the easier it will get.

To Begin, Begin

When I studied design back in the early 2000s, my digital media professor, Tom Duscher, held the view that every designer should have their own blog. It was still the early days of blogging but he already saw the potential and power of writing about your craft and reflecting on your experiences. At the time, I thought I understood what he meant, but it took me over 10 years to finally overcome (or simply ignore) the fear of being wrong and start to publish on my site. I won’t ever look back.

Building and maintaining your personal website is an investment that is challenging and can feel laborious at times. Be prepared for that. But what you will learn along the way does easily make up for all the effort and makes the journey more than worthwhile. But most importantly, having a website makes you part of an amazing community of creators, forming new friendships, new connections, and new opportunities. This is invaluable.

Personal websites are the backbone of the independent Web of creators. Even after all those years, they remain a vital part of what makes the web the most remarkable and open medium to date. We shouldn’t take this for granted, though. If we don’t pay enough attention and care about the open web enough, we might lose this valuable asset. So let us protect the Web as a source of inspiration, diversity, creativity, and community. Let us maintain what we have and work together to make this little part of the magic of the Web sparkle even brighter. Let us help new members of the community to start their journey. Let us build, prototype, publish, and connect.

Let’s start today.

If you start a new personal site or already have one, you are welcome to share it below. There are three ways to do that: If your site supports that, just send a Webmention via your personal website. You can also use the form below this article to send a Webmention. Then, you can reply to this tweet – all replies are automatically added to this article as a Webmention. Or, write me a quick email and I’m happy to manually add your site below.

The header image illustration is based on photographs of the Apple Lisa by Victor R. Ruiz and the Apple Lisa mouse by Marcin Wichary, both released under a Creative Commons license (Attribution 2.0 Generic, CC BY 2.0).

Prototyping.news: For a monthly update on the latest articles, tools, and other resources about prototyping for the Web, sign up for my free newsletter prototyping.news.

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1448 Webmentions

Photo of Tom Tinkerson
Tom Tinkerson
A love letter to your personal publishing space aka your own web site. Great read (once again) by ⁦;@m_ott⁩;
Photo of Max Böck
Max Böck
Join the indieweb today and start publishing on your own site. We can bring back the web we had. #LetsFixThis
Photo of https://jgregorymcverry.com
https://jgregorymcverry.com
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer: matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of midzer
midzer
Think global, write personal
Photo of Max Böck
Max Böck
Join the indieweb today and start publishing on your own site. We can bring back the web we had. #LetsFixThis
Photo of Sebastian Greger
Sebastian Greger

The week in quotes (2019W19)

Vicky Boykis advocates for “a move to leisure as a modus operandi”: The ability to have room for leisure has always also been an upper-class pursuit. Just ask anyone at Downton Abbey. What did people do there all day? Breakfast, chat, read, take walks, and by then it was time for dinner on large, quiet estates. Today, the true signal of privilege and choice means not only the ability to block out physical ...
Photo of Oliver Schöndorfer
Oliver Schöndorfer
“If we would make the conscious decision to find better ways to connect our personal sites and to enable more social interaction again, … we could … influence the development of Web technologies into this direction.” Thanks for this article, @m_ott
Photo of Calum Ryan
Calum Ryan
"Whenever you stumble upon an interesting thought on another site, write about it and link to it." | An in-depth article about protecting the open web and having a personal website – Into the Personal-Website-Verse by @m_ott » (https://matthiasott.com/articles/into-the-personal-website-verse)
Photo of Calum Ryan | calumryan.com
Calum Ryan | calumryan.com
"Whenever you stumble upon an interesting thought on another site, write about it and link to it." | An in-depth article about protecting the open web and having a personal website – Into the Personal-Website-Verse by @m_ott » (matthiasott.com/articles/into-…) (calumryan.com/note/2677)
Photo of Manuel Matuzović;
Manuel Matuzović;
Oh, wow! You should read this fantastic article by @m_ott. "Personal websites are the backbone of the independent Web of creators. Even after all those years, they remain a vital part of what makes the web the most remarkable and open medium to date."
Photo of Sara Soueidan
Sara Soueidan
This article by ⁦;@m_ott⁩; about the state of the Web & the importance of personal Web sites should become a must read. I wanted to quote every paragraph in it. His passion for a truly Indie Web is evident
Photo of Philip Brewer
Philip Brewer
Why did this stop being automatic! "So if you write or put any kind of content on your site, also make sure to add an RSS feed." matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Israel Muñoz
Israel Muñoz
"Especialmente, pero no solo, si trabajas como independiente o freelancer, tu contenido no es solamente algo que hayas creado, sino que es parte de tu identidad. Es parte de lo que eres, lo que estás pensando, lo que crees, y lo que estás haciendo": @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of HWC Brussels
HWC Brussels
Into the Personal-Website-Verse #Indieweb : matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Ricardo Mendes
Ricardo Mendes
Into the Personal-Website-Verse #Indieweb : matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Adactio Links
Adactio Links
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Lobsters
Lobsters
Into the Personal-Website-Verse via @danburzo lobste.rs/s/ocyjzv #philosophy matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of tokutakes
tokutakes
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Israel
Israel
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Kevin Stewart
Kevin Stewart
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-… via @instapaper
Photo of Jacky Alciné
Jacky Alciné
Lots of nuggets of gold and strong cases for the IndieWeb in this post from Matthias Ott: https://matthiasott.com/articles/into-the-personal-website-verse.
Photo of jackyalciné (he/him/his)
jackyalciné (he/him/his)
Lots of nuggets of gold and strong cases for the IndieWeb in this post from Matthias Ott: matthiasott.com/articles/into-…. (v2.jacky.wtf/post/433031d8-…)
Photo of Priyesh Patel
Priyesh Patel
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of dirk döring
dirk döring
This is a must read. And it even more fires my motivation to finish my website i started last weekend @indiewebcamp #quitslacking
Photo of lobste.rs bot
lobste.rs bot
Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-… lobste.rs/s/ocyjzv/into_… #philosophy
Photo of Ana Rodrigues
Ana Rodrigues
Another amazing article about personal web sites that came out this weekend. ✨; "But most importantly, having a website makes you part of an amazing community of creators, forming new friendships, new connections, and new opportunities. This is invaluable."
Photo of Chris McLeod
Chris McLeod
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer
Photo of neehad
neehad
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Superluchito
Superluchito
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of tams sokari
tams sokari
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Quentin Bellanger
Quentin Bellanger
Best reading of the week! I wish people rely less on social media platforms and more on personal websites. In my experience, my personal website taught me so much. It's basically my dev playground where I can write and experiment new things.
Photo of Hans Gerwitz
Hans Gerwitz
Social media sucks, but that doesn't mean the web has to.
Photo of Gift Egwuenu ✨;
Gift Egwuenu ✨;
⭐;️; Recommended read: Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Katherine Moss
Katherine Moss
Just getting started on cambridgeport90.net. Basically a blog, and anything else I find interesting.
smallbellows

Hello world?

In a moment of inspiration combined perfectly with procrastination, I have decided to start a personal web page. This will be a place for me to explore and experiment, to try stuff out, and to talk “out loud” about those experiences. I was heartily inspired by Matthias Ott’s post on the perks personal website. So far, all I’ve done is install WordPress. Something I’ve done many, many times. But ...
Photo of Ann
Ann
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of HJ Chen @ YGLF Vilnius
HJ Chen @ YGLF Vilnius
“Don’t do it like me. Do it like you.”–@m_ott on building your personal website ❤;️; #web
Photo of Mike Taylor
Mike Taylor
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · A personal website is also a powerful playground to tinker with new technologies and discover your powers. @m_ott buff.ly/30ioWae
Photo of Malte Müller
Malte Müller
„Into the Personal-Website-Verse“ matthiasott.com/articles/into-… https://t.co/DiLSXsKP0O
Photo of ZenphotoCMS
ZenphotoCMS
„Into the Personal-Website-Verse“ matthiasott.com/articles/into-… https://t.co/SJQImzOlWe
Photo of Sanne Peters
Sanne Peters
A good argumentation for owning and maintaining your own content and not using social media for it: matthiasott.com/articles/into-… Yes, I am aware of my own hypocrisy ????;
Photo of Г;о;н;з;о;
Г;о;н;з;о;
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of jérôme coupé
jérôme coupé
The « retour en grâce » of the personal website. Let’s weave our little corners of the web together /via @thylo matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Darathtey Din
Darathtey Din
Interesting read | Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Pinboard Popular
Pinboard Popular
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Val Head
Val Head
Reading this made me feel equal parts guilty and inspired. Time to get that personal site up and running again! @m_ott makes a very good case for why personal web sites and the indie web are so important both for you and the community: matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Pinboard Popular
Pinboard Popular
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of theAdhocracy
theAdhocracy
Fantastic article an the alternative to giant corporations, tech monopolies, and bot-infested race-to-the-bottom social media: the humble, personal website. ????; Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of nuncapops
nuncapops
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Matt Robin
Matt Robin
Personal Websites: It's not nostalgia, but this also reminds me of previous remarks by @zeldman (unless I'm mistaken, please, correct me if I'm wrong Jeffey!) matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Stefan Judis
Stefan Judis
Excellent article by @m_ott about why owning your data is important and the role your personal website plays in this. ????;????;????; matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of chles
chles
✍;️; par @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Chris Heilmann
Chris Heilmann
"Into the Personal-Website-Verse" matthiasott.com/articles/into-… @m_ott with an empowering, detailed post how to make your personal mark on the web by owning your content.
Photo of Chris Heilmann
Chris Heilmann
One very personal dislike I have is articles where the scrollbar doesn't indicate the length. (Yes, this is probably an "old person of the web" thing). Take matthiasott.com/articles/into-… on a desktop computer. The scrollbar indicates it is HUUUUUUUGGEE and I didn't read it until ...
Photo of Dave Rupert
Dave Rupert
? hooray, blogs! matthiasott.com/articles/into-… Great post by @m_ott
Photo of Aditee Singhi
Aditee Singhi
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-… #initiatives
Photo of Webrocker
Webrocker

Take back your web - Tantek Çelik @ Beyond Tellerrand Conference, Düsseldorf 2019

Watch this. Understand this. For quite a while now I really think we are at a crucial point in the history of the web. In the weeks before this year's event, I thought back at my first visits to the Beyond Tellerrand Conference, how much it impressed me and where I was exposed to a real paradigm shift right at the start of the "responsive" thing. In the following years, the talks and general trends got ...
Bill Bennett
Matthias Ott just reminded me to check the microformat stuff was working on my billbennett.co.nz site (it wasn’t). These things are important. matthiasott.com/articles/…
Photo of Bill Bennett
Bill Bennett
Also, I like the idea of bringing back webrings. Researching that will keep me out of mischief this weekend. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Bill Bennett
Bill Bennett
Matthias Ott just reminded me to check the microformat stuff was working on my billbennett.co.nz site (it wasn’t). These things are important. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Rob King
Rob King
I once tried to start a webring with only people called Rob King. It was the "King Ring". It didn't really take off.
Photo of Ignacio Villanueva
Ignacio Villanueva
Siempre he dicho que me gusta ser "dueño" en la medida de lo posible del contenido que creo (salvo Twitter, claro). ¿Sabéis lo que son los Web Silos? Medium es un ejemplo claro, Facebook, Twitter... ????; Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Eugene Martell

Hello world!

Inspired by this great post by Matthias Ott, I’m rebooting my personal website. For too long I’ve been worried about whether I had anything good to write or unique to contribute (and, honestly, what this site would look like), but as Matthias says: [D]on’t hesitate to write about little ideas and observations that might seem too small or unimportant to share. We all have our unique perspectives and even ...
Photo of Graphite
Graphite
A great reminder from @m_ott that there is plenty we can do as individuals to reclaim the decentralization that was once the web matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Geffrey van der Bos
Geffrey van der Bos

In reply to: Into the Personal-Website-Verse

Move away from the censored social media silos. Start a social, personal website. You own all the content, all under your own domain name. How great does that even sound! Thank you, Matthias, for the inspiration of making my website just a tat more social. And of course for our short brainstorm on Twitter!
Photo of Brendan Dawes
Brendan Dawes
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Amber Wilson
Amber Wilson
For the love of personal websites ♥️; thanks for the awesome, important post and mention @m_ott. I'm soon going to document each part of my in-progress site re-make and release lots more posts! :-) #PersonalWebsites
Photo of Paul McFedries
Paul McFedries
“There is one alternative to social media sites and publishing platforms that has been around since the early, innocent days of the web. It is an alternative that provides immense freedom and control: The personal website.” —@m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Karthik
Karthik
Two fantastic perspectives on the need to own your digital narrative, in a place that you can call your own. One, from @m_ott, a User Experience Designer: Into the Personal-Website-Verse bit.ly/2wlWyWZ His #longread on personal websites goes back to the 1/5
Photo of Mark Dittmer
Mark Dittmer
Here’s my first shot at a quill-post for unused-for-almost-a-decade blog. Thanks @m_ott for the inspiration via matthiasott.com/articles/into-… (blog.markdittmer.org/?p=118)
Photo of Ecologia Digital
Ecologia Digital
"Personal websites are the backbone of the #indieWeb of creators. If we don’t pay enough attention and care about the #openweb, we might lose this valuable asset. So let us protect the Web as a source of inspiration, diversity, creativity, and community." matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Ralf G.
Ralf G.
Auf den Indieweb-Zug springen…
Photo of Paul
Paul
I really enjoyed reading Matthias Ott’s post titled Into the Personal-Website-Verse. It’s an essay about why it’s so important to have your own space on the Web, and why IndieWeb is a great way to get there. It’s well worth the read. There are many reasons to have your own site, at your own domain, that you control. Aside from retaining effective control over your content, the risk of entrusting our ...
Photo of Paul
Paul
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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mekalav
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Benjamin De Kosnik
Benjamin De Kosnik
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of AKA
AKA
Something I've been thinking about for quite a while: why personal websites and blogs are so much better than social media in 2019: matthiasott.com/articles/into-… (h/t @dan_hill)
Photo of Kenjie S. Suarez
Kenjie S. Suarez
The Impending Death of Facebook. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Jacob Sam-La Rose
Jacob Sam-La Rose
And in the moments between things, I'm thinking about how to make best use of the web (again)... From matthiasott.com/articles/into-…:
Photo of Brendan Schlagel
Brendan Schlagel
Enjoyed this article about personal websites: as personal exploratory space; as playground for creative learning and tinkering; as community web… Making me want to implement webrings & webmentions on my own site(s)!
0

Irregular Batch of Interesting Links #8

It seems that my irregular batches are becoming weekly. This week there are links to articles about how tech affects people and about humans. Looking around at social media and web in general, it is more than ever important to keep personal websites alive. Matthias Ott wrote good introduction to them. Through one of the recommended blogs in my RSS feed I came across Luis Coelho illustrations of animals. Online ...
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Kyle Libra
This is great. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Brett @ IAMTHELAB
Brett @ IAMTHELAB
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Jérôme Gamez
Jérôme Gamez
This is good: „Into the Personal-Website-Verse“ by @m_ott (via @DenseDiscovery) matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Kevin Kirkpatrick
Kevin Kirkpatrick
A love letter to personal websites. ????;????; Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of SitePoint
SitePoint
The personal website is making a comeback. @m_ott has some thoughts, and practical advice for those looking to get involved. buff.ly/2X4pePv
Photo of ????; Mike Tannenbaum ????;
????; Mike Tannenbaum ????;
Love it this ode to the personal website. “Personal websites are the backbone of the independent Web of creators. They remain a vital part of what makes the web the most remarkable and open medium to date.” Well said, @m_ott! matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of msgWP
msgWP
We couldn't agree more, @m_ott. "There is one alternative to social media sites and publishing platforms that has been around since the early, innocent days of the web. It is an alternative that provides immense freedom and control: The personal website." matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Stéphanie Walter
Stéphanie Walter
I was quite depressed about my personal site the last couple of weeks because I got quite some exhausting and annoying comments about it. But this article is exactly what I needed to read: "Personal-Website-Verse" matthiasott.com/articles/into-… 1/
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matt finlayson
well, here is a manifesto for the indieweb matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of T❘;LM△;N
T❘;LM△;N
Inspiring article by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-… tldr;: Let’s ditch all those flawed commercial social networks and built a new one, with personal linked websites, like in the old days! ????; Is this the future? Sounds good.
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Hyperalp
Der beste Artikel seit langem für alle, die etwas im Netz publizieren. Leseempfehlung. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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Roel Groeneveld
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Tekla Szymanski
Tekla Szymanski
Your content is one of your most valuable assets and thus owning it is key. It gets drowned out on social media and you'll loose copyrights on some publishing platforms. Go back to a personal website, share, link and interact on your terms. via @m_ott ow.ly/Fc9s30p1kER
Photo of Chuck Munson
Chuck Munson
Going Indie. Step 2: Reclaiming Content matthiasott.com/articles/into-… #IndieWeb #OpenWeb
Photo of Chris Aldrich
Chris Aldrich

Social Reading User Interface for Discovery

I read quite a bit of material online. I save “bookmarks” of all of it on my personal website, sometimes with some additional notes and sometimes even with more explicit annotations. One of the things I feel like I’m missing from my browser, browser extensions, and/or social feed reader is a social layer overlay that could indicate that people in my social network(s) have read or interacted directly with ...
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bodemotion
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer wunderbarer Text über die hoffentlich baldige Rückkehr der eigenen Homepage. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Ahmed Al Omran
Ahmed Al Omran
Now imagine, for a moment, an environment where a decentralized fabric of connected personal sites allows everyone to publish their own content but also enables each individual to engage in an open discussion matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Jon
Jon
Into the Personal-Website-Verse (via @Pocket) #longreads matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Mischa ????; ????;
Mischa ????; ????;
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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New Local Media
Into the Personal-Website-Verse ... and out of the platform garbage fire ????;????;????;by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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Eco Web Hosting
"There is one alternative to social media sites and publishing platforms that has been around since the early, innocent days of the web. It is an alternative that provides immense freedom and control: The personal website." - @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Divi Den
Divi Den
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Stefan Grund
Stefan Grund

Into the Personal-Website-Verse

If we would make the conscious decision to find better ways to connect our personal sites and to enable more social interaction again, and if we would then persistently work on this idea, then we could, bit by bit, influence the development of Web technologies into this direction. What we would end up with is not only a bunch of personal websites but a whole interconnected personal-website-verse. Matthias hält ...
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fluffy

Keeping it personal

I just read this great essay by Matthias Ott. It does a great job of summarizing the state of affairs of blogging and social media, and how we can try to escape the current orbit to get back to where the web was meant to be.
Photo of fluffy
fluffy

Keeping it personal

I just read this great essay by Matthias Ott. It does a great job of summarizing the state of affairs of blogging and social media, and how we can try to escape the current orbit to get back to where the web was meant to be.
Photo of Mαtt Thomαs
Mαtt Thomαs
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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brook shelley
I think I already posted this in my newsletter, but it's a very good article on how and why to do your own web stuff matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Ana Mora
Ana Mora
The irony of sharing this great piece on Twitter. Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott thanks to @petitebrunette matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of isil
isil
Si, como yo, estáis un poco rallades con la forma malévola y robatiempos en la que se ha encasquillado internet, esto os interesará: matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Ste Grainer
Ste Grainer
Finally got around to reading “Into the Personal-Website-Verse” by @m_ott : matthiasott.com/articles/into-… I wish everyone I knew had a personal website whether they work on the web or not. That would be way more enjoyable than following them on social media …
Photo of Nathan W. Bingham
Nathan W. Bingham
Long live the personal website. This Saturday read brought back good memories of blogrolls and webrings. Perhaps there is a future beyond algorithms and social media. Thanks to @ChrisBowler for the recommended read. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Philip Brewer
Philip Brewer
Here’s a great summary of all the things I never quit using: a personal website, #RSS, blogroll, etc. Now augmented with indieweb stuff like webmention, micro.blog, etc. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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Wünderbucket
This is the reason I'm building Wünderbucket: matthiasott.com/articles/into-… Thanks for the excellent article, @m_ott
Photo of Hanane ❅;
Hanane ❅;
This post and "Out there" are two of the articles that gave me the motivation to start my own website and blog! Thank you for writing them ????; Matthias Ott Matthias Ott Zoe Chew ????;????;????;‍????;????;
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Matthias Ott
Hey Hanane, that’s so great! I’m really glad to hear that I could help you a bit with my posts. Good luck with your site!
Photo of Hanane ❅;
Hanane ❅;
Thank you very much, Matthias! Matthias Ott Matthias Ott Zoe Chew ????;????;????;‍????;????;
Photo of Thomasorus
Thomasorus
« Your content [...] is also part of your identity. It is part of who you are, what you’re thinking about, what you believe in, and what you’re up to. It is part of the story you are about to tell. It is part of the change you seek to make. » matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Wim Symons
Wim Symons
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of HïMY SYeD
HïMY SYeD
"One day, Twitter & other publishing platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Medium will indeed die, like so many sites before them. Every time this happens, we lose most of the content we created & with it a fair amount of our collective cultural history" matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Marie Guillaumet
Marie Guillaumet
Lettre d’amour aux sites perso, aux webrings et autres blogrolls (en anglais) : matthiasott.com/articles/into-… ????;????; Le tissage de nos propres réseaux indé sur le web a une valeur particulière, vs. les plateformes type Twitter ou Medium qui disparaîtront un jour. (Via @WalterStephanie.)
Photo of GBO
GBO
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-… @m_ott
Photo of Jason Garber
Jason Garber
Into the Personal-Website-Verse – matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Tixie
Tixie
Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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Nick
Into the Personal-Website-Verse #IndieWeb matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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Revelino
????; matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of ????;????;????;????;
????;????;????;????;
The power of the personal website can't be understated. I like trying many things out on my own one and it's how I learn. Nodding along to this: matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Hacker News
Hacker News
Into the Personal-Website-Verse: matthiasott.com/articles/into-… Comments: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=221568…
Photo of Hacker News
Hacker News
Into the Personal-Website-Verse : matthiasott.com/articles/into-… Comments: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=221568…
Photo of HN Front Page
HN Front Page
Into the Personal-Website-Verse L: matthiasott.com/articles/into-… C: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=221568…
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Giacomo Barbieri
Open sourcing the web. ⁦;@riccardopalombo⁩; matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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Cab
Mais um excelente texto sobre a importância dos sites pessoais para você e a web como um todo. ????; matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Hacker News 20
Hacker News 20
Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-… (bit.ly/2GsosFS)
Photo of Bharadwaj P
Bharadwaj P
Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-… #blog- favs #feedly
Photo of Hacker News 50
Hacker News 50
Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-… (bit.ly/2GsosFS)
Photo of Joe Botha
Joe Botha
Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Eλf Sternberg
Eλf Sternberg
While I agree with most of this, let me add: "Linux is only free if your time is worthless." matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Daniel Fernández
Daniel Fernández
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Caesar Wirth
Caesar Wirth
This is something I've had in the back of my head for a while; I'm glad other people thinking the same thing. matthiasott.com/articles/into-… Although, it is ironic that I'm sharing it through social media.
Photo of Matthew Graybosch
Matthew Graybosch
I'm gonna level with you all: I'm only here because of #peerpressure. I'd rather focus on my own websites and have you visit. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Jeremiah Lee
Jeremiah Lee
I agree with everything in this and only add: put a Web Monetization tag on your content and subscribe to @Coil to support your peers doing the same.
Photo of Hacker News 100+
Hacker News 100+
Into the Personal-Website-Verse (2019) matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of M157q News RSS
M157q News RSS
Into the Personal-Website-Verse (2019) matthiasott.com/articles/into-… Article URL: https://t.co/KDekoufmfM Comments URL: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=221568… Points: 100 # Comments: 90
Photo of Joshua Gilless
Joshua Gilless
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-… Having a personal website is great for so many reasons explored in the above blog post. You can try out all kinds of new things and get some experience throwing things you build out into the ether.
Photo of Francesco Napoletano
Francesco Napoletano
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Josh Katzenmeyer
Josh Katzenmeyer
Why the personal website is the past, present, and future. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Jani Tarvainen
Jani Tarvainen
Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Hacker News Feed
Hacker News Feed
Into the Personal-Website-Verse (2019) matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Hn150
Hn150
Into the Personal-Website-Verse (2019) matthiasott.com/articles/into-… (news.ycombinator.com/item?id=221568…)
Photo of Danny ????;
Danny ????;
Into the Personal-Website-Verse (2019) matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Richard Eskins
Richard Eskins
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer. A MUST READ for the last cohort of our Web Development students. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Tom Metcalfe
Tom Metcalfe
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Hacker News 200
Hacker News 200
Into the Personal-Website-Verse (2019) matthiasott.com/articles/into-… (news.ycombinator.com/item?id=221568…)
Photo of webuproar ????;
webuproar ????;
????; matthiasott.com/articles/into-… Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer
Photo of Luis Orduz
Luis Orduz
Will look into WebMentions for my own site. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Igor Kulman
Igor Kulman
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of 6LT Data
6LT Data
Into the Personal-Website-Verse (2019) (matthiasott.com) : ift.tt/2Nbwl8N
Photo of Arjan Zuidhof
Arjan Zuidhof
Waarom het zo belangrijk is je eigen stek op het web te hebben als je eigen content je lief is >>> matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Jean-Loup Adde
Jean-Loup Adde
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-… I really need to give more love to my personal web site/bubble.
Photo of Universe
Universe
"It is an alternative that provides immense freedom and control: The personal website. It’s a place to write, create, and share whatever you like, without the need to ask for anyone’s permission." — @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Nicholas A
Nicholas A
Came across this cool piece again - part ode, part insight into what makes for a compelling personal web site in this day where the gears of the web seem tuned around anything but that: matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Thomas Wilson
Thomas Wilson
I read this last week, it’s really well put and helped clarify some of the things I’ve been thinking myself. Thanks for writing it :)
Photo of Matthias Ott
Matthias Ott
????; You’re welcome, Thomas! And thanks for letting me know you liked the post. That it helped clarify your thoughts means a lot to me. :) Have a nice weekend!
Photo of HsiangHui
HsiangHui
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer #web #decentralization matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Larry Vincent
Larry Vincent
Love this piece by ⁦;@m_ott⁩; on the call for the return of personal websites. I’m not just feeling nostalgic for the days of blogrolls and web rings, but longing for a return to creating and expressing instead of the social media slop we’re in now. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Jorge Calle
Jorge Calle
Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Mike Solomon????;
Mike Solomon????;
It’s 2020. What’s your excuse for not publishing your own blog or website? This post by @m_ott is a must-read ????;
Photo of Mike Solomon????;
Mike Solomon????;
It’s 2020. What’s your excuse for not publishing your own blog or website? This post by @m_ott is a must-read ????;
Photo of JoyMedia
JoyMedia
Do you ever think about what will happen to all that you upload? Someday it will be for not. Ott's got it right. Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Carl Likes
Carl Likes
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/articles/into-… via @instapaper
Photo of Bix
Bix
“With Webmention,” writes Aaron Parecki, “we’re explicitly focusing on enabling the kind of rich interactions people do on social media instead.” According to the webmention draft, such an interaction “can be an RSVP to an event, an indication that someone ‘likes’ another post, a ‘bookmark’ of another post, and many others”. Had I my druthers, the indieweb would pull away from likes and move ...
Photo of Bix
Bix
As idealistic as this vision of the Web might seem these days, it isn’t that far out of reach. Much of what’s needed, especially the publishing part, is already there. It’s also not as if our sites weren’t already connected in one way or another. Yet much of the discussions and establishment of connections, of that social glue that holds our community together – besides community events in real life, of ...
Photo of Mathias Maelle
Mathias Maelle
Into the Personal-Website-Verse (2019) matthiasott.com/articles/into-… #Personal-website-verse
Photo of Ola Bamisaiye
Ola Bamisaiye
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Tah Tor
Tah Tor
More and more people are rediscovering their personal websites as an alternative to social media that provides more control and freedom of expression. Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Roy Tang
Roy Tang
Shared via pocket: Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Nils Müller
Nils Müller
#IdeeUmSieben Wir müssen uns nicht den großen sozialen Netzwerken ausliefern. Wir können auch einfach immer noch persönliche Webseiten im klassischen Stil gestalten und RSS-Feeds nutzen. Und es werden wieder mehr. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Radical Web Design
Radical Web Design
Into the Personal-Website-Verse, by @m_ott. Why it is necessary to rebuild our personal homepages, and relearn to inhabit them. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of erin malone, mfa (she/her)
erin malone, mfa (she/her)
As a researcher hunting for old content from the 90's and 2000's the only stuff that is stable and findable via wayback machine are blogs, personal sites and non-flash stuff. We lost a lot when everything migrated to big companies.
Photo of Haruki Nakagawa
Haruki Nakagawa
Can't. I'm busy putting all my energy in manifesting the reality where it just never comes back.
Photo of Larry Cornett
Larry Cornett
I remember Microsoft wiping out every trace of a startup that I worked with (after the acquisition) It was as if they never existed. I found one reference to it deep in someone's personal career story on their site
Photo of Haruki Nakagawa
Haruki Nakagawa
First thing that came to mind when I saw all the Facebook products were down at the same time:
Photo of Frank Meeuwsen
Frank Meeuwsen

Maak je eigen moederschip

Natuurlijk is het niet tof voor al die Facebook medewerkers die zich nu het schompes werken om weer alles aan de praat te krijgen. Maar wist je dat er mogelijkheden zijn om buiten die grote tech-bedrijven om in contact te blijven met je vrienden en familie? Met een eigen domeinnaam, wat schijfruimte op het web en een handig blogsysteem kom je al een heel eind. Minder afhankelijk van grote techbedrijven die té ...
Photo of Larry Cornett
Larry Cornett
I worry about that. We need some sort of easy archival solution that's under our control
Photo of erin malone, mfa (she/her)
erin malone, mfa (she/her)
That is so sad. I am running up against the acquisition erasure as I am digging into stories and work from women in the field. So much is just gone. I expect we will see this with personal archiving too as media evolves & files disappear. I miss the shoebox of stuff.
Photo of Max Antonucci
Max Antonucci
Few things give me the same sense of joy and accomplishment as having my own website, where I can put whatever the hell I want in whatever style I want.
Photo of SupBro
SupBro
FOLLOW ME and RETWEET ME for free #NFT !
Photo of Im م;س;ع;و;و;د;
Im م;س;ع;و;و;د;
Hi guy if u know what art it is see that amazing #nft #art #Solana mintable.app/collectibles/i…
Photo of Yo, Mike T
Yo, Mike T
Kind of old article. Still a super cool idea. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Adrian Sandu
Adrian Sandu
I was browsing my bookmarks and I ran into this older article by @m_ott on the topic of personal websites. If you are interested in creating content, I highly recommend you read it. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Michael Reyes
Michael Reyes
I'd argue that the personal website is your biggest asset in today's world of social media feeds and noisy advertising. It's a resume for your most creative pursuits and insights. @m_ott wrote this article about the importance of having one yourself. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of patrick h. lauke (lazarus) #toryScum "Big Dog"
patrick h. lauke (lazarus) #toryScum "Big Dog"
only permanent as long as you pay for hosting, renew your domain name, etc... but sure also, there's often little point publishing content to your own site if nobody knows about it. so you need some other platform where everybody else is to be able to advertise it...
Photo of Aurelie Touchard
Aurelie Touchard
Hello Matthias. I think everybody doesn't want to pay for hosting a website. Everywhere we depends from something, like Github, WordPress, or somewhere else you mentioned. These are some kind of community too. What is your opinion about it? Thanks for you interesting article! 🙂;
Photo of Matthias Ott
Matthias Ott
Bonsoir Aurelie ! Glad you liked the article—thanks! You’re right. Not everyone can or wants to pay for hosting. You could get started with a “free” option like putting your site on @glitch, GitHub Pages, WordPress.com, Netlify, or an open source project like @Ghost.
Photo of Aurelie Touchard
Aurelie Touchard
Et si on revenait aux sites pour partager, en étant presque sûr que ça restera ?
Photo of Matthias Ott
Matthias Ott
Yes, if you measure “success” by the amount of readers/visits/likes then there is little point publishing stuff nobody sees – at first. But I’ve also experienced that I got a lot (more?) value out of less “successful” posts, as well:
Photo of Matthias Ott
Matthias Ott
Yes, :D Besides the learning argument, I think there is no other way to get started with most things you do. I think Seth Godin said that it was the same with the young Bob Dylan or The Beatles: Why even bother playing in half-empty nightclubs in front of a few drunk people?
Photo of Matthias Ott
Matthias Ott
For example, learning about some idea, concept, or technology because you have to write about it, just getting stuff out of your head, documenting your thoughts in an archive (log 😜;), or also helping just a few random strangers (or friends!) who thought your post was useful.
Photo of Sharmarke Hujale
Sharmarke Hujale
I became more determined to invest time in my personal website after reading the article Into the Personal-Website-Verse, written by @m_ott matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Sara Soueidan
Sara Soueidan
What Matthias said. Write on your own blogs, syndicate elsewhere. Own your content! There's nothing like it.
Photo of Juhis
Juhis
Having your own website and blog is such a great way to share, practice, experiment - and stay in control of your own content. And it can have much longer tail than in the "if you missed it, you won't see it" hyperspeed social media.
Photo of Ajmal Afif
Ajmal Afif
I have the same "Notes" section like yours (probably from the likes of you and others). Agree on one of the best decisions made.
Photo of Zach Leatherman
Zach Leatherman
It’s that time again to share everyone’s (*my) favorite blog post: the transformative and empowering Into The Personal Website Verse by @m_ott. Featuring everyone’s (*my) all time favorite quote: “Don’t do it like me. Do it like you” matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Matthias Ott
Matthias Ott
Into the Personal-Website-Verse matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of Sanskar
Sanskar
matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
Photo of @matthiasott
@matthiasott
@matthiasott Sauber ! Und ich bin so dreist, hier einen von mir verfassten Artikel aus 2018 und auf deutsch zu verlinken: https://michaelmarek.ghost.io/social-media-is-a-mental-prison/ Social Media is a mental prison
Photo of @matthiasott
@matthiasott
@matthiasott one way is #obsidian +obsidian publish or free opensource alternative like pubsidian, flowershow.app, obsidian mkdocs, perlite.... obsidian
Photo of Jens Comiotto-Mayer
Jens Comiotto-Mayer
“Twitter and other platforms […] will die, like so many sites before them. And every time this happens, we lose most of the content we created and with it a fair amount of our collective cultural history.” Own your content. Publish on your own site. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott Great article! I started my own web dev blog early this year and love experimenting with it. Need to implement Webmentions and RSS real soon. Thanks for the inspiration 🙌; 😊;
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@alex86
@alex86 Great! Let me – all of us, actually – know when you have an RSS feed! 🤗;
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott People go for the happy path. Ease of use has undoubtedly been a significant contributor to Twitter’s success. The shadow side of this is that alternatives are less appealing and so therefore the options in real-terms are limited. You could even go as far as saying that effective design can be an enemy of the good due to creating a monopoly effect. It’s hard to find a meaningful alternative to ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott was just thinking about this the other day, that I should publish more on my website.
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@matthiasott
@endocrine_witch @matthiasott I will definitely publish more on mine !
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott whilst I agree with the principle of owning your own content; social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter provide an almost universal ease of use which alternatives struggle to compete with. This then leads to an inequality between those who do and do not have the inclination, confidence, or skills to master a new platform which isn’t intuitive to use (such as Mastodon or having your own website).
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott This is why I run my own website/blog and have done so for about 25 years. Folks used to get so confused because it my web address wasn’t pointing to MySpace or LiveJournal back in the day.
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott Your own site isn't going to live forever either though. It will disappear as soon as you stop paying your provider, for whatever reason. Just saying.
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@vce_elliott
@vce_elliott In a perfect world, there would be a service where you can get your own little corner on the Web with a quick installation of everything, your data stored in a format that is easy to exchange or convert if you ever want to change your CMS/SSG, and a website that has already a best-of of IndieWeb technology built in, like Webmentions or syndication to different platforms.
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@vce_elliott
@vce_elliott Just as an example, you could start on wordpress.com and later move on to your own server. Some hosters also offer one-click installations of CMSes etc. And I still believe that over time more good design will flow into the alternatives so that they eventually are getting easier to use.
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@vce_elliott
@vce_elliott Yes, I fully agree! I remember a vivid discussion about this at one of the first IndieWebCamps I attended. There is a barrier to owning your content and publication platforms are trying to make it as easy as possible to publish inside their walled gardens and to give us immediate gratification for it, so that it is convenient to just write and hit publish there. On the other hand: it is as easy as ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott I have never perceived twitter as more than a transient feed. Finding older content from other people is nearly impossible (at least I wasn't very successful in that regard).
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott Austin Kleon would agree. Own your turf https://tumblr.austinkleon.com/post/37863874092 (The irony of him posting this on tumblr back then is not lost on me.) Own your turf
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@vce_elliott
@matthiasott @vce_elliott Yeah I've run my own sites for years, but it can cost money & upkeep that make it inaccessible to most, even w/1-click installers. WordPress.com is a good compromise since you can always export & transfer your site if you want or if the service discontinues. The only alternatives in the works that I can see might be govt-provided Solid Pods (data stores) https://solidcommunity.be/ or ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott A new dark age for future historians?
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott … or at least publish also to your own site so it gets preserved when the networks go up in flames. I’m currently wondering what to do (and whether to do) something about my tweets. Not that there’s so much value in them, but I feel like there are a bunch of things I would like to keep. If only to go back ten years later and say “I told you so!” But that would require the timestamps to stay ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott Does this assume that you will live longer than platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Medium?
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott das ist ne nette Prämisse mit dem kleinen Problem dass ich gerade erst wieder ne Abmahnung bekommen habe für meine Seite weil ich Google Schriften eingebunden habe...
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@speitsch
@speitsch Oh, das ist Mist. 😔; Ist ja nicht per se ein Problem einer eigenen Website, trotzdem ärgerlich. Gegen den Anwalt wurde inzwischen soweit ich weiß Anzeige erstattet. War ja eine offensichtliche Abmahn-Masche. Ist einer Freundin auch mit ihrer Seite passiert (Webflow). Ihr Anwalt hat ihr geraten keinesfalls zu zahlen. Aber schon bescheuert genug, dass man zumindest auf sowas reagieren muss und Ärger ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott Danke. Ich reagiere da gar nicht drauf. Ist aber schon die dritte die ich bekommen habe wegen solcher Spaßbären die meinen sie könnten das Recht ausnutzen.
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@adactio
@seeingwithsound No, not at all! You can decide for yourself how much and what you want to use your own site for. Some people try to do almost everything via their site and actually also write replies there, like @adactio. Some publish blog posts on their site, share the links, and collect reactions via Webmentions. Or you could also start a microblogging section on your site and syndicate the posts into ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott The PeWe Verse very catchy! Great post, thank you.
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott Outstanding article! Have been thinking about creating a website recently too. The problem is that unlike social media you have to buy a domain and host your website. For hosting I could just use a spare raspberry pi but I don't have a domain, do you perhaps have any solutions?
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott Realizing the day fast approaching as deviantart announced AI art generator and had everyone initially opt in. I always knew it but wasn't proactive enough. Sucks.
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@Tzipi
@Tzipi But you can only get an archive of your data if that account isn’t suspended, I think…
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@matthiasott
@muon @matthiasott Social media are not valid to preseve knowlede, know how or culture. They are as spoken words: They should be recognized and perhaps led to catalise thougts to be fixed in books or magazines, hypotheses is to be scientifically verified, opinions to be further developed or to be rejected or forgotten.
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott You are absolutely right. When the public "lost" (gave away) the #WWW to corporate power years (actually decades) ago I went for a long (…) break using it as a tool – until a year ago, when I discovered how (even more) limited "free" speech is IRL; back then, I felt compelled to start using #Twitter and in a way I do regret it but on the other hand I learnt some lessons, accumulated some ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott To my knowledge, there are a few #tools (and I believe & hope there will be more & better ones) that allow us to save at least some of the #content we have provided on #Twitter. As for me, Twitter has despotically locked/suspended some of my stuff/accounts, falling for reporting attacks, I believe, and I'm not sure how to "safely" save my #data w/o risking to lose it all. In my opinion, Twitter is ...
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@Tzipi
@Tzipi You can – and should – get an archive of your Twitter data. That can be done via the settings. And there are a few solutions out there that let you backup tweets more regularly. I use a tool on my site (https://matthiasott.com/tweets/) called “Tweet Nest”, but unfortunately it isn’t maintained anymore. Tweets by @m_ott
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott yup I just gave similar advice: Advice on building your own ecosystem https://katecarruthers.com/2022/11/07/building-your-ecosystem/ Advice on building your own ecosystem
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott this is starting to grow on me. Already have the domain, just need to take the plunge...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott I agree with this sentiment, but the longevity of personally controlled digital content is also questionable. We saw this migrating from floppy disk storage. Maybe it’s okay if we just wipe the slate clean every few years.
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@getkirby
@mathieuhuot …do it! 😁; It’s a lot of fun to build your site. Try to make it as easy and convenient for yourself to publish. And if it’s “only” an occasional thought, a little observation, or something you learned, that’s just fine. Enjoy making stuff. Good luck! 🤗; And in case you’re not sure about what to use: both @eleventy and @getkirby are fantastic. I use CraftCMS for my site and enjoy ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott Dear Matthias. Thank you for reminding me. I remember reading your article back then. It felt like a welcome reinforcement to owning my own blog and that the blogging (and web-feed) community is still out there. I liked it then and I appreciate it now. So please feel warmly greeted my fellow blogging friend. 😘;
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott Thanks, another nice read😊; Every so often when I was blogging regularly, I would experience an identity crisis of what the blog should be about. I’d get so wrapped in knots deciding what to write about/or not that I’d lose momentum. Starting again is a fresh start for new interests but there are also interests I don’t want to leave behind. Chris Coyier’s site that you linked to is a ...
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@JP30567
@helgztech @JP30567 I ping the Internet Archive every time I publish a post. But that only goes so far. Any ideas on what we could do on top of that?
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@matthiasott
@JP30567 @matthiasott this. I've seen amazing resources become defunct when family had no interest in archiving a loved one's site.
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@JP30567
@helgztech @JP30567 Yes, that’s a real problem. And that’s why nobody says that it’s mutually exclusive. You can always post copies of your posts into silos and hope that they outlive you and your kids. 😜; But preserving your content and your URLs after your passing is indeed an unsolved problem we don’t talk about enough. Still all that doesn’t make it less compelling to keep my work and content on ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott Great article, thanks for sharing. I used to blog regularly and found a lovely community. We are still in contact on other platforms but I miss that space. I definitely had a blogroll🥰; Nowadays I want the convenience of a hosted platform like Wordpress dot com but the flexibility to explore the nuts and bolts. Unfortunately I have a tendency to get easily lost in the implementation that I forget ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott I’m feeling that inclination to write again. However, I don’t have the time or energy for traditional self-hosting. Revisiting Eleventy and Netlify again as a nice way to spin something up and write posts in Markdown. For ages, I thought the lack of user friendly privacy-focused comments on static sites was a deal breaker. However, I’m realising the personal web doesn’t need a single solution:
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@straydogstrut
@straydogstrut That’s only unfortunate if you don’t enjoy tinkering with the technical stuff 😉; It your place, so if you tinker more than you write and it gives you joy, it’s still worthwhile, I guess? But I also struggle with this. And constantly write about it… 🫣; e.g. https://matthiasott.com/notes/just-put-stuff-out-there Just Put Stuff Out There · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer
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K+M ✊;????;????;
One day, Twitter and other publishing platforms like Facebook, Instagram (…) will indeed die, like so many sites before them. And every time this happens, we lose most of the content we created and with it a fair amount of our collective cultural history. matthiasott.com/articles/into-…
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott I just borrowed a stack of books from the Deming Alliance. Inside many was an acknowledgment of who gifted the book. I found it beautiful. For example
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@matthiasott
@arush @matthiasott Sites die too, though, and it’s likely that Joe Shmoe’s random little website will literally die when he does. Same with fediverse instances. A commercial service with a well-paid crew managing it has a much better chance of survival than a $5 Linode VPS managed by one person. If you host your own site, you have to consider what happens when you die, teach your kids / siblinks / parents to ...
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@phil
@matthiasott So true! Coincidentally, @phil and I just had a conversation about this regarding SaaS in general: https://floss.social/@janriemer/109336793708971941 Jan (@janriemer@floss.social)
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@matthiasott
@helgztech @matthiasott After living through several more or less spectacular Board crashes, I finally accepted, that all the time and work put into the discussions are short living. But then, I didn't write anything worth being saved for ages. 😉; Internet is not much sustainable than talking to someone in person.
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Astrid Günther

IndieWeb

The IndieWeb[^indieweb.org/] is about taking control of your content, sharing your thoughts and ideas in one place and then spreading them on other social platforms. What if a social network becomes so that you don't feel comfortable there anymore? Or it gets shut down altogether? In that case, what happens to all your posts? In my opinion, your digital identity should belong to you and not to a commercial ...
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Matthias Ott
I wrote this three years ago: “One day, Twitter and other publishing platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Medium will indeed die, like so many sites before them. And every time this happens, we lose most of the content we created and with it a fair amount of our collective cultural history.” Own your content. Publish on your own site. https://matthiasott.com/articles/into-the-personal-website-verse Into ...
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@matthiasott
@matthiasott here's an example post with all three types of webmentions. I also lazy load but I think the images were originally from Twitter so I might have been using the smaller version's URL. https://sia.codes/posts/architecting-data-in-eleventy/ Architecting data in Eleventy
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Matthias Ott
Still, I need to improve how Webmentions are displayed on my site… 🤔; What are your favorite implementations?
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@sia
@sia Thanks! Yes, I was thinking the same about whether people want their avatars to be shown. I mean, if someone adds microformats with an h-card to their site and maybe even Webmentions, one could argue that displaying their avatar next to a Webmention might be totally fine for them. But if they like something on social media, that’s a whole different story, because they have no idea that their image will be ...
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@condor
@condor Je crois que ce qui me plaît le plus dans cette définition d'Internet, c'est qu'elle correspond parfaitement à l'idée de déjà-là communiste décrite par Friot
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Е;в;г;е;н;и;й; К;у;з;н;е;ц;о;в;

Е;в;г;е;н;и;й; К;у;з;н;е;ц;о;в; Е;в;г;е;н;и;й; К;у;з;н;е;ц;о;в; (M) 1 и;ю;н;я; 2019 https://matthiasott.com/articles/into-the-personal-website-verse Exactly. Oб;н;о;в;л;е;н;о; 29 м;а;р;т;а; 2020 Н;а;з;а;д; | Д;о;м;о;й; К;о;м;м;е;н;т;а;р;и;и; ;м;о;ж;н;о; п;р;и;с;ы;л;а;т;ь; в;е;б;м;е;н;ш;е;н;а;м;и; и;л;и; п;о; э;л;е;к;т;р;о;н;н;о;й; п;о;ч;т;е;.

Exactly.

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