a/k/a:

PIY: Publish it Yourself

A URL of One’s Own

https://indieweb.org/POSSE: Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere

In an era of pervasive algorithms and a range of self-censoring, it's more important than ever to have your own online space. It needn’t be pretty nor optimized. Just like the samizdat publications in Soviet times, personal websites offer a platform for free expression and creativity, free from the constraints of algorithms and the fear of cancellation.

Samizdat, (Sounds like sa·muhz·dat. самиздат from Russian sam, “self,” and izdatelstvo, “publishing”), was literature, essays, and commentary secretly written, copied, and circulated in the former Soviet Union. Usually critical of Soviet government practices, they were roughly produced: mimeographed, Xeroed, or even handwritten.

Your content may lack the polish of the official press, but not censored...

Why have your own website?

• Algorithmic Censorship: Modern algorithms know more about you than did Soviet censors, manipulating what we see and share online. By having your own website, you can bypass these algorithms and control the content you put out into the world.
• Self-Censorship: We often self-censor to please the algorithm, seek dopamine through likes, or fearing “cancellation”: losing a job, prestige, and even friends. A personal website allows you to express yourself more freely with fewer fears of repercussions.
• Legacy: What you publish on social media platforms lives on only at the whim of others. A company’s product manager (or algorithm) can “deprecate” features deemed outdated, underused or merely no longer relevant to the product road map. Posts in such a content stream are like footprints on a riverbank, soon washed away. Better to leave your prints on Cave walls.
• Shadow Banning: Shadow banning, where platforms suppress content without notifying the user, is a growing problem. With your own website, you have complete control over your content and visibility.

HOW To in a combination of cheap and easy that matches your situation.

While folks in 2024 generally know some options for website builders, and many have put out, there’s still friction. Easy-to-build

Recently, I surveyed comembers of my writing group. They had personal sites in varying ranges of completion.

For those without or not yet public, they mentioned not having time to: set it up, keep it updated, or “get the colors right”.

“Don’t think of your website as a self-promotion machine, think of it as a self-invention machine. Online, you can become the person you really want to be.” - Austin Kleon, in Show Your Work

I will provide some steps to do so easily and cheaply.

I have several sites built on WordPress—and have used other Content Management Systems (CMS) in the past. I’m also using simpler solutions, such as for my avocational site, sail-lore.com and now professionsonpurpose.ORG, which use a free stack of Cloudfare + Notion + open-source code.