I definitely agree with you, Eli! I was wondering out loud with a half-baked thought just yesterday about how we could help ease newer āgenerationsā into the IndieWeb. Where you are coming from the technical side of things, I was thinking more about the on-boarding process and not expecting people to read swathes of documentation to get started. Having read your post I realise both need to be worked on (in tandem?)
I couldn’t hand over even a working WordPress + IndieWeb installation to my partner and expect her to have a good time using it. I’m trying to bring her round to the idea of moving to her own site, because she’s so frustrated with the social media giants, but the tools just aren’t accessible to her level yet.
What has been built so far in the IndieWeb is amazing. I’ve not been this enthused about having my own website – or what it’s capable of – in years. But I’ve been building on the web for 20+ years; I’m impressed by the technology because of my understanding of it, and I’m the sort of user who can work past the rough edges when I need to — in fact, part of me enjoys the tinkering aspect. On reflection, I might be the worst person to be evaluating how this stuff can be made more usable and accessible for someone who wants it to “just work” as smoothly as the existing options š
So I guess the question then becomes – who is best placed to help with this, and how do we bring them on board (if they’re not already)?
Jacky AlcinƩ reposted this reply on v2.jacky.wtf.
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@MrKapowski 1000% with you both. Been saying it for a while. The problem is a common one in tech … that peope are so close to it .. that they forget what they know and just assume that it is ācommon knowledgeā.
Case in point .. web mentions … I have read and re read how to make web mentions work on a word press site and tried to implement .. and always failed when I try to implement.
On the latest site @joejenett took the reins and got it working for @justgoodmusic but even he hit issues, which yes, he wrestled to the ground and sorted, but wow it is not easy.
What was that old line about developers … 90% of them want to work on the first 90% of the project and only 10% want to work on the last 10%.
The point being that new projects keep getting kicked off and reach a point that are good enough to do what you need to do … before a squirrel runs by … and you are off to the next one.
The final 10% of all those projects only have roughly 10% of the resources to finish them off and get them to a level that might allow for broader adoption.
IMHO … the indie world will not be adopted by āmain streetā until some of the projects get that last 10% done .. but I fear that the indie world is populated by the 90%.
Then again, just like a fine boutique winery, that everybody loves … until so many go there that it becomes so popular that nobody goes anymore … I wonder if indie web is in a similar space. Weāre all just fine in our boutique … by all means come on over and enjoy what we have, weāll even help you … a lot … but if you donāt bring your own glass and cork screw … well ..
// copying @ron who I know is of similar mind.