Sal’s

Hasty IndieWeb thoughts; bad roads as filters

I recently skimmed through Andros Fenollosa’s post, I joined the IndieWeb, here’s what I learned. It’s a good post.

Every time I read about the IndieWeb, though, I’m left with roughly similar thoughts: I don’t want it. I honestly don’t get what’s desirable about it beyond what you get with a blog, RSS, and e-mail. (Edit: I mean the social parts. I’ll revise properly when I have more minutes.)

I assume I’m the wrong target audience for it, as I detest social media. In my book, the slower pace and more effortful communication of blogging + e-mail are features, not problems.

Bad roads as filters

I found an interesting nugget as I skimmed the Hacker News discussion about the post above.

This person said the IndieWeb should be easier to use if it wants to attract more people. Then this person argued, “No. Exact opposite. Opening it up to everyone is what kills everything good…”

And then this person shared the following quote from Joseph Wood Krutch:

Bad roads act as filters. They separate those who are sufficiently appreciative of what lies beyond the blacktop to be willing to undergo mild inconvenience from that much larger number of travelers which is not willing. The rougher the road, the finer the filter.

This is an interesting idea when applied to any sort of community. I think I lean toward finer filters being a good thing, even if means that some online spaces can feel a bit monoculture-ish.

Although, the only time I get a monoculture vibe is when I’m looking at the trending lists, like Bear’s. If I instead look at the firehose of latest stuff from powRSS, Bear’s most-recent list, or Bubbles’s “new” list, I feel there’s a good diversity of content and already more than I can keep up with.

So, yeah, my vote is to keep the roads rough.

#indieweb #blogging