IndieWebClub #28
Today's session was led by Jatan where we discussed what is the most basic requirement for a blog. These are my notes about the session.
What constitutes a blog?
Jatan argued that a domain should not be required for a blog. He shared his journey where he started writing on Blogger, then moved on to Wordpress when that was the cool new thing. Then Medium came along with its network effects which ended up landing him a job. He used domains and dropped them along the way but the idea of his blog still continued.
Everybody expressed there opinions about what it means to have a blog. Some that I found interesting:
- The idea of Weblog came from people with homepages and list of posts with timestamps.
- Some argued that the chronology of posts has a role to play, but others agreed that it has to be a collection not necessarily in any order.
- But collection can be anything, how about a Google search result with your name? Is that a blog? How about a Whatsapp broadcast or an Instagram page?
- One interesting point discussed was the content should be attributable to a person. So would you call an Amazon review or a Youtube comment a blog post?
I think a curated list of posts with some intention can be a blog. Sure, Instagram or Facebook page can be a blog then. The page itself is not very different from Tumblr, Medium or Substack.
What about a personal website?
To me, a personal website needs to have a certain sense of ownership or control of the website. A domain name is explicit ownership and control but there can be different definitions:
- Can change the address.
- Can change the looks and layouts.
Some people disagreed, the personal website has to be about the person, the control is not necessary. That would make a Linktree a personal website.
Should a blog be permanent?
The discussion about personal websites went in the direction of permanence.
- Someone argued that the idea comes from the need of archival. A website is like a library with curated posts.
- Nothing really is permanent:
- Github was banned in India for a few days.
- When the country stops existing, ccTLDs can disappear.
There is hyperbole, and then there is practicality. Nothing is really permanent, at some point humanity will cease to exist, and the Universe will Freeze.
Someone likened changing the web address to changing the physical address. The physical address is not permanent either but we still use it for all practical purposes. On the web however, you can have a redirect from the old address if you still control it.
Get others started on blogging
People shared some failures about getting there friends to blog. It worked when people had time during Covid-19 but it fizzled out. Abhinav expressed that its such a loss because he found the posts interesting and meaningful.
Some people argued that there is no reward like the traditional social media. It is a big deal if a blog receives 30-40 visitors in a week, but on Social media the numbers can be in the thousands to hundreds of thousands. Arpit had an interesting insight that on Social media, you consume content without deciding whereas on the web you have to be intentional in your consumption.
I shared my success story about getting Mitchy to blog. She has surpassed me in the number of posts now.
My personal favorite was the story of Abhigyan. He discovered that his Grandpa had a wordpress blog for 6 years, and he then setup a website and CMS for him to post.