Reading as participation in the indie web

In the past, I have used the shorthand “if you have a website, you’re in the indie web community.” I have used this because I don’t think there are, or should be, any other qualifying factors (i.e. using particular tools, having a certain site layout). While I think this shorthand is useful in ensuring people don’t feel like they have to do things a certain way to participate in the indie web, it misses one constituency that I don’t think are talked about enough: readers.Before someone starts a personal website, they will probably read, or at least encounter, personal websites. Every personal website someone finds is a chance for them to see what it means to have one’s own website. Every personal website that someone sees has the potential to evoke the thought “maybe I could have a website too?” That is to say reading precedes making.While the indie web community is welcoming to anyone who is on the journey toward starting a website, my shorthand fails to encompass this. You can still…