Is there a mobile-friendly webring?

[arcus]

So is the price of a smartphone. I really don't think someone deciding they want to participate in the indie web in this way and saving for a little while to get a laptop if that's needed is a big deal. *shrug* Agree to disagree I guess.

Not everyone with a smartphone has paid for one up front, and might have gotten one second hand as a gift. There's plans in the USA that go for $30 USD a month that include a smartphone with internet and credit. $200+ USD for a machine that cannot make calls, nor comes with internet is a risky purchase, especially for the sole purpose of making a few websites look better.

Not everyone can save up either: With Supplemental Security Income (SSI) in the United States, the savings limit is $2,000 USD per person, including their personal items in some states. If one goes over that, all their payments get cut off. This is a huge issue for anyone that needs to have a bit left over for medical emergencies and similar. Even getting gifted a laptop in that situation is risky, since that's $200 USD off how much they can save up.

I have no idea what your experiences are like, and I'm not trying to argue with you here. I'm posting this because there's many misconceptions about poverty online that are impossible to understand without talking to someone that has been homeless or close to it.

Edit: This post is kinda badly worded and that last line wasn't meant to come off rude. There's misconceptions about the cost of mobile phones, and how people can afford them while being poor but not other things. I wanted to clear that up since there's common misconceptions surrounding that. Poverty aside, we're going to have to agree to disagree.

[ashParadise]

I'm posting this because there's many misconceptions about poverty online that are impossible to understand without talking to someone that has been homeless or close to it.

Yes agreed, as someone who is living below the poverty line, if my laptop (which is a 2012 model that I'm still using daily by the way, make your next laptop a thinkpad and buy it for life) died, I'd simply be out of a laptop for probably a really long time. There are ways to get cheap laptops, but they're time- and labor- intensive. And if you're living in poverty, working to try to survive, you might not have the time or energy or resources for "the hunt." Not even to mention how much harder all of the above gets if you have a disability.

Now imagine yourself in those shoes and try justifying a laptop purchase over a smart phone, which we've all been convinced we need to live (and in some cases actually is pretty essential - for example, my city's buses use an app for routes and fare, and we don't have cabs, only rideshare apps. So you either need a vehicle or a smartphone to get around independently.) I mean, I hate my smart phone, but if I needed a new phone or a new laptop, purchasing the laptop instead of the phone would be an objectively irresponsible decision.

Anyway, all of this is to say that you have to meet people where they are. There's a lot of friction to joining the indie web and most people aren't accustomed to that. If you really want your friends to join the indie web, but then you're telling them they need to buy a computer, learn to code, actually LOOK for interesting content instead of having it fed to them by the algorithm... I mean really, that is a lot to ask for what's supposed to be a fun hobby. I think it's much better to find ways for people to "dip their toes" from the comfort of their cell and generate a genuine, innate curiosity and drive to do more from there.

[lildevildog]

Alright so I need to make it clear that I don't believe someone who doesn't know where their next meal is coming from or cannot afford to spare any money at all should shell the money out for a laptop. Only if they can set aside fun money for themselves without sabotaging their life.

But whether or not somebody can afford a laptop or desktop, it would be hard to convince me that the indie web on mobile is anywhere near the experience of a desktop/laptop setup. I think the nature of mobile and being such a zoomed out and condensed version of desktop hurts the indie web experience pretty damn detrimentally. Like I said, I've wanted multiple times to lay in bed and browse the indie web. And in my opinion, every time I've tried it, its just cumbersome to use and unsatisfying to interact with. I just don't think it can be experienced as intended on mobile regardless.

[ValyceNegative]

I had the misfortuneoccasion to read the whole thread via previous RSS messages yesterday, but it was Monday, so I hope I remember everything I wanted to say while the forum was closed xD

For the webring itself, while there's always room for more and I'm sure people will happily join one with this specific subject, I believe the aforementioned Responsive Web Directory ( https://kalechips.net/responsive/index ) already covers this group, as it's implied that a responsive site is at the very least comfortably viewable on all screen and that includes mobile.

For the "smallweb hates mobile" topic: I come from an era in which mobile browsing was based on WAP (psst, did you know Italy was the first country to implement it on its phones? :3c ) and sites had to code a new page from scratch on mobile.example.tld just to be accessed, so now that all we have to write is a media query (or, even lazier, a flex layout and a couple more width/max-width em sizes) I don't see where's the harm in working on mobile compatibility.

However, I do see the general hate for mobile browsing throughout the smallweb movement. We've been discussing so far on why isn't mobile viewing allowed on these sites, but I feel the real question should be, why are some webmasters barring their site to a selected audience? My theory is that, since smallwebs are percieved as true personal sites, their compatibility is a consequence on how many people we want on that platform. There's sites made only for the webmaster's eyes that look good only on their specific resolution... and I feel that's valid too.

Depending on the purpose of the site the audience may change and so is the need for mobile accessibility or not. If a webmaster wants to code a portfolio, gallery, or a series of important info that should reach their customerbase/audience, then they should consider responsitivity. If not... then it means that the site's content wasn't made to be seen by everyone, and low compatibility restricting its access might be an intentional form of protection.