Calling out to punks in the web revival

[Kie]

Well if it helps people get into the fold, I don't mind. It just feels weird because the entire digital independence movement has been around since AOL came into being, that is, early 90's.

I think also because I associate punk with avan garde art movements where a lot of early musicians didn't have much in the way of a traditional musical education. Meanwhile web revival is relies on the average user knowing the basics of programming and having a bit of engineering skill. When I think of "punk" I don't think of a person looking over their code baffled why their javascript isn't working.

See this is also one of the reason why I believe we need something akin to webpunk! I'm a software engineering student, and have been in digital independence + open sopurce spaces for a while, because computing is a big interest of mine. One thing I've noticed over the years is that "living" the independent web is something, currently, mostly reserved to tech savvy-people. With how things currently are, for the average user the idea of "moving" to the decentralized web simply feels unapproachable. Most users don't even know about alternative options to social media like forums and Geocities revival services, let alone stuff like Linux distros and commandline tools.

I think it's important to reframe the indieweb as something that is deeply accessible, and to create tools to make things easier for those of us that are not tech-savvy. The DIY ideology associated with punk can easily be adapted to webcrafting in this regard. I've found plenty of independent sites run by punks already, what's missing is only a community tieing them together.

[Symberzite]

I guess I understand what you mean. In all honesty most indieweb sites provide a lot of great resources for learning to code.

The issue is that the general population spent the last 20 years trading independence for convenience. People would stare at you if you genuinely suggest them to install Visual Studio Code and start making their own website. Regardless of what you think of the man, I think the best thing would be someone like Pewdiepie making a video on the indieweb like he did for setting up Linux. I'm genuinely convinced that a good chunk of people just don't know how easy it's to set up your own digital castle. You'd need an IShowSpeed 4 hour CSS stream to really get the ball rolling.

Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but the best ad for the indieweb won't be some webpunk manifesto, but control freak laws that most governments are currently trying to push onto the net.

[Kie]

I guess I understand what you mean. In all honesty most indieweb sites provide a lot of great resources for learning to code.

The issue is that the general population spent the last 20 years trading independence for convenience. People would stare at you if you genuinely suggest them to install Visual Studio Code and start making their own website. Regardless of what you think of the man, I think the best thing would be someone like Pewdiepie making a video on the indieweb like he did for setting up Linux. I'm genuinely convinced that a good chunk of people just don't know how easy it's to set up your own digital castle. You'd need an IShowSpeed 4 hour CSS stream to really get the ball rolling.

Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but the best ad for the indieweb won't be some webpunk manifesto, but control freak laws that most governments are currently trying to push onto the net.

Haha unfortunately I have to agree! But if I get even one extra person or two on board I'll be happy 

[bugfeli]

completely agree! i feel like everyone else already touched up on the state of modern punk but i'd like to put my two cents on it as well. a lot of modern punk, especially scenes formed in smaller communities, seems to glorify the hyperspecific original punk movement, refusing to move into broader ideological discussions, such as internet usage or sustainability. of course, punk can't really be defined in that manner so someone who renounces social media and the internet altogether is just as punk as someone hyper-involved in online spaces; it's a matter of intent!

but for punks who do frequent online spaces, i think its one of the best ways to build community (which ive always been taught is the cornerstone of scene) and its a great way for newer punks to interact with people like them before getting involved in local scene too!

along with its original intents and ideologies, punk should be ever-changing, because the world is ever-changing! a punk doesn't have a specific look or personality; starting to put labels on that sort of thing makes a door for elitists to spoil the whole thing. i mean, for an ideology with roots in individualism it doesn't really make sense to police what is and isn't punk. but then again that could just be the influences of my local scene and growing up with a punk dad, who knows!

in short, though, i think coining or even fostering a space for online punks could be a really promising venture!