The Indie Web, the RPG Blogosphere, and Moving the Notepad

Buckle up buttercup. This one's gonna be boring.

In which I discuss opting out of the modern internet, why more people should, why it’s a perfect fit for the already-one-foot-out-the-door TTRPG Blogosphere, and what’s next for the Notepad.

The Indie Web

Okay, the indie web, the old web, the small web, it’s got a lot of names. Some people will be really eager to debate these names and these terms and what they mean and who is allowed to use them - I will not, nor will I entertain those debates. They are for silly people.

The point is bigger than the term. The point is that the internet is still capable of being democratic. You can still choose not to go to facebook, to instagram, to tiktok, to these algorithm-driven engagement platforms that are stealing your attention, your focus, and your humanity, and selling it to advertisers. You can choose not to participate in the endless cycle of vitriol and the suppression of your humanity and the erasure of your creative self. Those choices still exist, but they exist in the colossal shadow of the aforementioned mind-thieves.

Ultimately, what you type into your address bar in your browser is still your choice. Smartphone companies will still shove bloatware onto your phone to drive you towards their platforms and entice you with their features and promise to “connect you to people you care about” (what a load of shit.) They have greased the skids so that you slide headfirst into their traps. They buy every competitor so that you have fewer options. But options remain.

Enter, the small web.

Back when I was a young lad, people still made their own stuff on the internet. Geocities, Angelfire, hell, even Neopets and Myspace gave you the option to customize and tailor your website to your interests and your aesthetic. Whatever you made, it was an expression of you. Not 280 characters of you in a uniform box that’s the same as everyone else’s box that’s fed into a machine algorithm to determine whether or not your thoughts stoke enough anger to be showed to other people. Just whatever you wanted. It could be some writing here, a video there, pictures here, dancing babies there. It was whatever you wanted.

And uh… you can still do that.

I’ve been ranting and raving for some time to those around me that I’m desperate to own the things that I buy. I’m exhausted of licenses and streaming and paying for the permission to temporarily view a thing or use a thing. I’m exhausted of paying for a piece of content and then being told I’m not allowed to do anything with it except glue my eyes to their particular platform for the privilege of consuming it.

There was a day when you bought something and owned it. And that has been systematically stripped away by greedy corporations and conglomerates who want every penny you have and want to give you nothing for it. We once had television. Then we had television with ads. Then cable TV promised no ads for one big fee. Then cable TV inserted ads. Then streaming came along and promised no ads for one fee. Then streaming added free options with ads. Then streaming added ads to the paid versions, and then raised the prices.

The endless cycle of enshittification continues because we aren’t allowed to own anything. Nobody can insert advertisements into my ancient VHS boxset of Star Wars. Physically impossible.

I want to own the things that I buy. I want to own the things that I make. I want to give people what I want to give them, share what I want to share, without a middleman trying to sell shit using me as a delivery medium.

And uh… you can do that. Did you know you can still buy physical media? DVDs and CDs and Vinyls? You know you can still buy a polaroid camera, you can buy a camcorder and make your own home videos. All those things that my millennial generation is becoming nostalgic for are still possible, yet most of the conversations about those things end up at “Man, I wish we could go back to those days…”

You can buy an mp3 player and buy music from bandcamp. Then you own it and can do whatever you want with it. You can download podcast episodes onto your computer and have them forever, not just until that provider gets bought and changes licenses on you. (More on that in the future.)

The web is the same way. People are making their own bespoke little websites and putting what they want on it. Doing what they want to it. Defying uniformity and corporatization and enshittification.

Start here.

The Indie Web and the RPG Blogosphere

I think the small web is the perfect fit for the RPG blogosphere. In fact, in a lot of cases, the RPG blogosphere is already part of the small web, or at least, it’s own little pocket of the small web. Creators, sometimes on platforms like blogger, but increasingly using tools bearblog, making their own little corner of the internet, linking to other likeminded or interesting people, sharing what matters to them and opting out of the enshittified internet. No rat race here. No desperate clinging for views and likes and follows and subscribes. (I say self-effacingly, as I have been part of a platform that prompts you to subscribe on every post.)

More of the RPG blogosphere should consider opting out of those platforms and becoming part of the small web. It’s the natural evolution of a hobby who has grown out of a wholesale rejection of modern temptations. It’s an obvious next step for a medium and an industry which relies upon and encourages real human connection with people at your table.

If you’re a blogger, especially on a platform like Substack, consider making your own thing. It’s not hard, and you can use tools to make it easier. And it’ll be yours. And you’ll love it more, and you’ll be more invested in it. And when you are, people will be able to tell. They’ll see your love for this thing and their own engagement with you will mirror that love.

Hosting platforms like neocities makes this quite easy. Also, setting up your own server is easier than ever. You can do it on a laptop in your home. You can do it on a Raspberry Pi. Make your bearblog or your jekyll blog or whatever the flavor of the month blogging tool is. Or just make your own website wholesale and put everything on it. Link to others, they link to you, and we create a new internet. And corporate interests can fuck right off.

Moving the Notepad

So, I’ve followed my own advice. I got eager to participate, and in a rare case of my eagerness and excitement being followed by actual effort, I created the new Glorified Notepad. It’s got some of my blog articles, and some new ones, and I’ll move other substack posts over as I have time and energy. It’s got a fun background thing you can draw on if you want. I’m going to put a lot of other stuff up there too. Whatever I want. However I want to.

No follow button. I might make a newsletter for it someday, but for now, it’s just a thing that sits there and you can come back and visit from time to time. I don’t ask for any of your attention. There’s no call to action here. I just think you might like it. And I like that.

This is my final substack post. Thanks for being here. I’ll see you over there.