2012/Positive Arguments

From IndieWeb

Positive Arguments for the Indie Web was a session at IndieWebCamp 2012.

Notes from etherpad: https://etherpad.mozilla.org/indiewebcamp-mrx


When: 2012-06-30 14:00

Positive Arguments

Non-negative reasons for the indie web (it's a marketing problem not a technical one)

Presented by: Brett Slatkin http://onebigfluke.com Hash tags: #mrx #indieweb

Survey results presented:

Positive reasons

  • Customizing the look & feel
  • Makes it easier to search through your content
  • Professionalism
    • Easier discovery -- e.g. avoids multiple profile confusion
    • personal brand; design skills; nunchuck skills
  • No Censoring - say whatever you want!
    • autonomy, nobody can stop me from what i'm doing; different than anonymous
  • Something you identify with
    • especially email – instead of being "Jan of Gmail", which is endorsement in a way; use own domain for content and email – even if you route it to Gmail
    • (What your email address tells about your computer skills: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/email_address )
  • 5 whys:
    • autonomy; you're in control of it; you can take it with you; number portability; email portability; strategy for email migration; archival of content is the problem
    • affiliation with the company; often linked with autonomy
      • Is there a positive affiliation? Captain planet
      • more like external; show someone else you're affiliated; where as autonomy is internal; that you are in control
    • appreciation; i have to keep updating my address book
    • status; perceived as cool
    • (the sixth why) privacy
  • Metrics; who checks my site?
    • Ego; status
    • Why don't you get this for Facebook?
    • Hosting your own analytics software (e.g. piwik) for control over your data
  • Being on the forefront of something new
    • Freedom to upgrade to the latest thing, not restricted by devs elsewhere
    • Equally, freedom *not* to upgrade
      • E.G. public outrage at FB ui+ux changes
  • Personal & personal brand
  • Technical: Convenience for hosting a page; technical freedom
    • similar to email, even when you’re on Github pages you can use your own domain to hide the fact
  • Animated gifs!!!
  • Personal expression; can't set background color like myspace, embeds; can't type more stuff
    • customization; feel
  • Discovery; Facebook page can't link to everything; personal site can; central hub for you
  • Pulling responses to content from around the web back to the original, all in one place
  • Freedom to choose monetization (or not); how people pay for the content
    • could pay myself; or pay to tumblr
    • Flattr?
  • Family sites
    • extended family sites
    • age-independence; kids can participate
    • computing eduction benefits: educates kids about the web
    • multiple people participating together; collaborative site; part of a group
    • firstname.familyna.me, firstname@familyna.me
  • Archivability; static site generator; value in private mirrors; always have a copy
  • Learning experience of creating a site; Ham radio argument
    • bicycle maintenance
    • cooking
  • When you die; you can say who gets your data
    • put your domain name in your will
    • memorial experience on facebook
  • Ownership
    • artistic: People are proud of what they own
    • date: People own their copyright
  • Part of a cool club: it’s hard but you can do it
    • Fixie bikes
    • You can sign up for IndieWebCamp
    • We all met

Other stuff

Reading List: Where can we refer people to (apart from IWC Wiki) for good reasons for #indieweb?

Use five core concerns to build better relationships.

  • Express APPRECIATION – listen to your coworker’s perspective, find merit in it, and communicate your understanding.
  • Build AFFILIATION – look for ways to connect; face challenges together, side-by-side.
  • Respect AUTONOMY – be careful not to tell the other what to do.
  • Acknowledge STATUS – respect the experience and expertise of the other; when status is recognized, people feel more calm, relieved, and relaxed.
  • Make ROLES more fulfilling – help people craft roles that are meaningful and effective.

– from Roger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro, Beyond Reason: Using Emotions As You Negotiate http://alexlinsker.com/82/

5 basic User Experience principles, fulfilling the human needs for

  • autonomy
  • competency
  • stimulation (self-oriented)
  • relatedness
  • popularity (others-oriented)

Improvements to the Survey questionnaire:

  • question: Do you know what a domain name is?
  • every question should have one free-form field
  • "How much do you spend a month?" should have 0 as choice

See Also