Reflections on IndieWeb Summit 2019 pt 1

I had a wonderful time at @IndieWebSummit last weekend. Meant to write up some thoughts on the event sooner, but I’ve been enjoying some time away from my computer this week.

That said, I’d like to note some highlights.

June 28: Pre-summit social

This was my third IndieWeb summit in as many years, and over the past year I’ve gotten to know several people in IndieWeb’s community by chatting on IRC, working together on software (mostly on GitHub), and long conversations on Skype. So, whereas my first IndieWeb was marked by a lot of introductions, this year felt like getting to see old friends. Not too much to say about the pre-summit social, except that it drove home the value of IndieWeb’s community. Behind IndieWeb’s specs and technical building blocks are some really interesting people committed to building a positive space.

June 29: Talks and unconference sessions

Today began with explanations of IndieWeb’s code of conduct, as well as Mozilla’s community participation guidelines since the summit took place at Mozilla’s Portland office.

We then moved on to a series of excellent keynotes. The keynotes stuck with me, so I’ll spend a bit of time with them. Below are some summaries on parts that stood out to me, and in some cases tangents where they led to me to related trains of thought:

Tantek Çelik — State of the IndieWeb

Tantek ran through a number of accomplishments and changes from the past year. Specifically, Facebook severely restricted its API, preventing tools like Bridgy from automatically syndicating between one’s personal website and Facebook account. And WordPress (the CMS running this very blog) continues to present numerous challenges. I’m of the opinion that it’s worth investing time to improve the IndieWeb experience on WordPress. And I think we’ve made big leaps forward in the past year. A lot of people have contributed to WordPress’s IndieWeb ecosystem, and particularly appreciation is warranted to David Shanske and Matthias Pfefferle.

Kitt Hodsden — On Contractions & Expansions

Kitt’s keynote was a beautiful and captivating oration about contractions and expansions through life, and how these connect to our online lives. I don’t think I can do it justice in a summary, but here’s an excerpt and it’s well worth checking out the full talk:

When we own our own data, We can look back at who we were who we thought we were. We can see who we really were, who we are, and, most importantly, the trend of our becoming who we want to become. With our own data, we can curate, we can shed who we were to become who we want to be, and we can write the end of our own story.

For this is the true power of owning our own data: to understand the cycles of contractions and expansions, to understand our hero’s journey, and to write our own story.

Most of all, I felt that Kitt’s keynote emphasized how the IndieWeb goes far beyond the technical. We spend a lot of time debating protocols, writing markup and/or code, and sitting at our computers. But the reason we care enough to put in this effort is that these technical features shape how we live our lives. Efforts to protest overstepping by platforms have often emphasized retreat or opting-out (e.g. #deletefacebook). But I don’t want to contract. I want to expand, and I want to do so in a way that is inclusive, fair, and kind. Kitt’s talk put this eloquently.

mJordan — Changing My Domain

mJordan’s recounted a frustrating experience. While job-hunting, she found that it was difficult to find opportunities, and then discovered that opportunities came much easier when she created online profiles that masked her gender and experience with organizations like Women Who Code. It’s shameful but not surprising that women have such a hard time in tech. Quote from mJordan’s talk:

So, I ended up really having to do all-in and change my identity absolutely everywhere. I created a new domain name. I had to change my Twitter. Get a new Twitter. New GitHub, new Instagram.

All the things. Just to get a job.

And, that is such bullshit.

Certainly not a problem that can be addressed with protocols or other technical work, but rather through constant vigilance in how we work with others, confront our biases, and work hard to make whatever field we work in better.

Marty McGuire — Own Your Mobile Experience

Marty demonstrated how he uses IndieWeb tools on his phone, showcasing his workflow for posting to his own website and following other IndieWeb sites from his phone.

There’s something really personal about putting one’s phone screen on the projector, and one of my favourite moments from this talk was right at the beginning:

Welcome to my phone. Oh, gosh. All right.

Most of all, I really enjoyed getting to see such an thorough look at someone else’s IndieWeb experience. Since there are so many ways to do different things with IndieWeb tools, I found it really useful to learn by Marty’s example.

Jacky Alciné — Making the IndieWeb for All

Jacky engaged squarely with what I think is one of the most urgent questions for any sort of decentralized web: How do we make this accessible for everyone? It’s common for a bunch of like-minded people to build something they find useful for themselves, but which struggles to meet the needs of people with different backgrounds. Lots of meet in this talk, and well worth watching. One thing that stood out to me was Jacky’s recommendation for “more anthropocentric (less tech knowledge) demos.” Marty’s mobile demonstration right before this was a great example, and Jacky spent part of the summit working a page on his site describing how he interacts with the IndieWeb.

This struck a nerve with me based on some reading I’ve been doing lately about activity theory. Specifically, Kaptelinin and Nardi use an example of driving lessons to describe learning processes from an activity theory lens:

For instance, when new drivers start learning to drive a car in a specially equipped training car, they may appear responsible for the driving (since they carry out basic operations such as pressing pedals and turning the steering wheel). But much of the driving may in fact be done by the instructor, who sets the direction, monitors the overall situation, and makes most decisions. With time, the learner can assume responsibility for more and more tasks and eventually develop the ability to drive on his own.

My first attempt to Indiewebify my site was aided by a rich technical infrastructure. Since I run WordPress I could easily install a variety of plugins and a theme that took care of many of the technical details. And I could verify that things were working using IndieWebify.me. However, it took me some time to understand how to use my website’s newfound powers. In other words, it was like getting in a fully loaded new car, but not having a sense of how to make decisions with it. Where should I go? Which lane should I take? etc. IndieWeb’s wiki is full of examples, and many people have written blog posts, but this sometimes led to too much information. Peronsal demonstrations (here’s how *I* do it, here’s what *I* would do) are really useful for helping people learn to make decisions. In other words, anthropocentric demonstrations can help ease new Indieweb folks into their new vehicles.

Whew, this is already getting long and I’m barely into day one. I’m going to take a break for now and will write a bit more about the rest of the summit later.

In summary, the keynotes provided a rich set of perspectives and prompts for driving discussion and projects throughout the weekend. I was particularly struck by how each keynote presented a unique perspective, and that inclusivity was so well represented.