Indieweb adoption - how does a new way spread?
A conversation cropped up in the #indieweb slack about how wide its adoption currently was. It surprised me to learn that there were, at most, around 10,000 sites that could currently be described as indieweb properties.
While Micro.blog supports indieweb technologies (so will technically boost those numbers as it grows) it was wondered if its members were "all 'actively' seeking out an indieweb presence" and whether this actually mattered.
Does having it but not understanding make a difference?
Of course not.
Everyone uses the web and email without having a clue about how they work, about the protocols behind them or the RFCs these protocols originated in.
People don't need to know and the indieweb will be no different.
An understanding is currently required solely because it's the only way to get it set up: implementing it yourself, either completely manually or in conjunction with a selection of plugins.
Stealth
When I wrote about mainstream social media adoption back in 2008 I said it would happen by stealth. People weren't actively seeking a social presence, they didn't wake up one day and suddenly think "I'm going to join a social network!"
They fell in to social, they just wanted to talk to their friends and family.
Widespread indieweb adoption will be the same, it will happen by stealth because someone with a bit of clout decides to implement it.
What if, for example, Automattic (the company behind WordPress) suddenly decided that all standard WordPress.com themes were going to include microformats2 markup and support webmentions? You've instantly got millions of people with an indieweb presence who haven't got a clue what it is or how it works, just that things are a little different.
Attempts at getting microformats2 markup into the WordPress core, however, have so far proved unfruitful.
Trigger
Ideas spread slowly, organically, word of mouth and person to person, until a tipping point is reached.
Even though something may be ratified as a W3C standard it doesn't mean everyone is going to start using it.
Maybe there needs to a trigger, a light bulb moment, a catalyst that galvanises the decision. What if something like Micro.blog takes off and starts getting a lot of attention.
What would it take?
If such a moment did occur any widespread adoption certainly wouldn't be couched in indieweb terms; there would be new terminology. Perhaps it would just be described as a new way to present your information to make it easier to identify, respond to, and to interact with other sites.
After all, if the indieweb becomes mainstream it's no longer indie.
Indieweb adoption - how does a new way spread? https://colinwalker.blog/2017/04/27/indieweb-adoption-how-does-a-new-way-spread/
Well put, Colin. A platform like Micro.blog has a great deal of potential to advance the adoption of IndieWeb building blocks like Micropub, IndieAuth, Webmention, and mf2, even if the users of Micro.blog don't know or understand any of the underlying foundations. Why? User experience! Micro.blog is simply leveraging IndieWeb technology and standards to build a platform that makes users happy. While Micro.blog is a great step forward for the IndieWeb, I still believe that the holy grail is getting native support for IndieWeb deep within WordPress core, including broad support from themes. WordPress runs over 28% of all websites, and IndieWeb support in core could be the tipping point for broad adoption.
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Colin Walker says:
Well, yesterday’s post caused a bit of discussion (and, frankly, that was always the intention) but it was largely denied that there was any kind of existential crisis within the indieweb community. I may have used the term for a bit of dramatic effect but I believe the point still stands. I’m not alone. The main argument against my point seemed to be that the different generations of indieweb users are well understood and documented. The page states the division into generations allows advocates to “build tools for and create language to encourage growth” but this is a primary issue: the current tools are not simple enough and the language used is definitely confusing to most non-developers. We may be seeing moves into Generation 2 with bloggers adding indieweb functionality to their sites but I would argue, due to the amount of manual intervention required to achieve a satisfactory result, they are still borderline Generation 1. There is talk about trying to get certain indieweb technologies into WordPress core or the Jetpack plugin and this would be fantastic; it would be the start of “adoption by stealth” that I wrote about before. Were this to happen we could effectively be skipping Generation 2 and going straight to Generation 3: those with personal domains managed by third parties, e.g. wordpress.com. But, as I also wrote, were this to happen it would probably not be couched in indieweb terms and the responsibility for creating the language to encourage growth would be passed on.
<a href="https://colinwalker.blog/2017/06/23/23062017-0602/">→ 23/06/2017 6:03am</a>In reply to: I'm curious what, if anything, you all think that the IndieWeb as a community could do or do better to make things easier for Generation 2... As I've written before, I think mass adoption of #indieweb technologies (at least in their current guise) is only likely to happen by stealth. There needs to be a big player willing to dip their toes in the water and really drive things forward in a way that is invisible to end users. Imagine if Twitter or Facebook natively included support. There would be no need for the various "plumbing" efforts, like Bridgy, that seek to join certain parts of the web together. But I can't see that happening. The big players are referred to as silos for a reason. Micro.blog is built with the indieweb principles in mind (to a degree) but it relies on people wanting to own a blog of some description. And most don't. But this is jumping ahead. Talking 'bout my generation! The next wave of indieweb users after the developers, otherwise known as Generation 2 (ambiguously labelled as "Journalists and Bloggers") is expected to carry the torch but I can't get away from a confused picture. The definition of gen 2 and the expectations of its knowledge don't entirely sit well with me - that anticipated knowledge described as:
Journalists and bloggers is vague, too wide, so the target has to be the skillset rather than the definition. It is intended for each generation to bridge the gap to the next but I don't see that happening. Gen 2 can publicise the indieweb but, until the tools are a lot simpler, there will not be sufficient uptake to make a compelling case. The indieweb will still be viewed as the domain of elitest geeks speaking in jargon. Simplicity is key: themes that support the relevant markup thus negating the need for manual tweaking; a simplified plugin structure with more clearly defined roles and descriptions; better explanation of what it all does without the assumption, and seeming arrogance, that this is just "better." Better is incredibly subjective. Stability and predictability are paramount. Things must "just work" rather than it being a case of markup roulette. Do A to get B, reliably and repeatedly. Part of the indieweb principle is focusing on the experience rather than the technology so that the same result can be achieved in different ways. But, when a number of the indieweb components are working their way through the W3C standards process, how can it not be about the technology. Standardisation leads to adoption and most won't invest the time and effort required until doing A always gives us B. The trade-off won't be worth it. Everyone having to write their own implementation is not a viable long term solution. There will be an element of choice but this will be merely functional and cosmetic: what subset of features do I want to use and how do I want to display them?