Why I made this website

Why I made this website
Source: xkcd

I will let Tantek Çelik speak for me, as I cannot say it as well as he can anyways:

I am once again asking you to own your notes, rather than tweeting them into Big Chad’s garage.

Maybe you left the big garage and now toot in your neighborhood Chad’s garage. It’s still someone else’s garage. https://xkcd.com/1150 #IndieWeb

Have a site? Own your notes in 2022.

Be the #P2P #decentralization you want to see, instead of tweeting to the wind.

The key to owning your notes is posting them with permalinks using a domain name you control. That’s it. https://indieweb.org/permalink

This gives you the ability to change your provider, while preserving your post permalinks. From the web’s perspective, your posts work just as they did before.

You are in control.

IndieWeb approach is the simpler day-to-day approach.

Once you setup your domain & provider (or host/CMS), you always know where to post.

Your own site.

Write first, defer “destination decisions”.

Create first, edit for audience(s) second.

It’s refreshing & liberating.

Whether text, photos, videos, podcasts, brief thoughts, thinking out loud, a considered essay or “thought piece”, or replies to any of the above, start with your own site.

Why burden yourself with having to decide what to post based on:Will this fit in 140^H^H^H 280 characters?Or 500?Does it need a title?Will my photos/videos fit their aspect ratio limits?Which four photos for this album? Or 10? What one aspect ratio to crop them all into?Will my video fit in 15, 30, 90, or 140 seconds?Will I upset Big Chad or be subject to selective enforcement of ever-changing policies?Can I edit my post after publishing?

By decoupling creating from “distribution”, or “audience”, or “reach”, or the size of someone else’s storage boxes, you are free to express your thoughts first, then optionally decide if you want to share them elsewhere and edit as necessary.

If you do want to syndicate (POSSE) your post, then you can decide:Where else to send your postIs it worth your time to edit your post for any particular destination… their content limits (number of characters/photos, or video length)… their audience expectations or terms of service sensitivities

Creating and editing are different mental tasks.

Decoupling them makes posting easier and you can do a better job at both.

You can defer destination decisions & editing to some point in the future entirely, when you feel it’s worth your time.

You decide how and when to spend time creating vs editing. You are in control.

I recommend you read his entire “100DaysOfIndieWeb” series.

And further on, now by Matthias Ott and his "Own your web" newsletter:

Having a personal website in 2023 is a superpower. It’s a place to write, create, explore, and share whatever you like, without limitations. It’s a playground to try out new things, tinker with new technologies, and build something beyond the ordinary. It’s a tool to make yourself heard, to participate in online discourse, create community, and make new friends. And, it’s a place to truly own your content and tell your story. It’s your personal home on the Web.