The POSSE Strategy
The central tactical innovation of the IndieWeb is POSSE: Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere.
- The Logic: You write a post on your own website (where you control it).
- The Distribution: You automatically push a copy to Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
- The Result: You meet the audience where they are (on the platforms), but the "Canonical Copy" lives on your land. If Twitter creates a paywall, you lose the distribution channel, but not the content.
Principles of Practice
The IndieWeb rejects the "Megaphone" model of blogging. It builds tools for Webmention—a standard that allows independent websites to "talk" to each other (likes, replies, reposts) without a central server. It turns the entire web into a decentralized social network.
Field Notes
The "Silo" Metaphor: IndieWeb advocates refer to platforms like Facebook and Medium as "Silos"—grain towers that hold data but do not let it flow out. The IndieWeb connects these silos with pipes (APIs) to reclaim the grain.
The "Original Sin" of Web 2.0: We traded ownership for convenience. The IndieWeb argues that we can have both: modern UX (feeds, mobile posting) without surrendering our digital rights.
Ephemera
While often technical, the IndieWeb is primarily social. Its "Homebrew Website Club" meetups are a global ritual of creating simply for the joy of creation.