It’s a good question.
We’ve got to the point where someone can have many, many accounts strewn across the internet – for micro-blogging, book-tracking, exercise-logging, and listening to music. In my time, I’ve had accounts with Friendster, MySpace, BeBo, and Facebook, and I continue to use Instagram, GoodReads, Reddit and others.
And yet it is unusual to have a website that could potentially replace all of them. The major difference between them and having a website is that there’s not an easy-to-use feed to read and then respond to web posts.
But then, why do I have a website? Sometimes I’m not even sure why. I’m not selling anything, I’m not promoting myself and I’m not devising some grand scheme or project. I don’t talk about my job online and I’m not trying to get another one through my website. And I’m pretty sure I didn’t pick the best deal for my hosting. And I’m constantly thinking that I should pick a better domain name.
Despite this, I want somewhere online that I control; that isn’t subject to random changes in functionality or design; that can’t be shut down at a moment’s notice or bought and ruined by a problematic narcissist. And somewhere that the structure is free and open so that the content is practically future-proof.
I also want something that can be a project in and of itself – I’ve spent time fine-tuning the layout, learning how to connect via FTP and editing bits of the website’s code. I’ve put a lot of thought into how I can make the Indieweb thinking work for me – not always successfully.
It changes your relationship with the internet – instead of putting something ephemeral out there, it makes me feel that I’m building something. A website, yes; but also myself.
And like me, it’ll take time to get it right. It’s a work in progress.