James chipAug 31, 2020

So heres the thing. People don’t host their own website as often now because the barrier has been raised up.

Tech wise is may not have been raised a huge amount but it’s been raised none the less. And the perception of the barrier to entry looks, to most people, to be very high.

Show threadJames chipAug 31, 2020

And I’m not talking about me and you who probably have some tech experience. I’m talking about your average user here.

I am taking about people like my parents and wife who don’t even know what an operating system, server ( and in one case web browser) is. The people who have computers and can use them, but don’t know what’s going on.

These are the people who have had the bar grabbed from them.

Show threadJames chipAug 31, 2020

“Well then they should just learn X” nope not good enough. You want the web to be open and free? That’s not how you do it.

Part of the problem we have now is that people think running a website needs specialist knowledge and complex computer skills.

You wont convince people to make websites by telling them they need to learn specialist knowledge and complex computer skills.

Show threadJames chipAug 31, 2020

“Html is not compl...” stop there. Yes, it is. Nit for you and me maybe but.

I can’t tell you how many times I have had the phone call something like “how do I attach an email” or “I download something and now I can’t find it”.

Sure, you can’t find your download folder but go ahead, layout some divs and style them yourself.

Show threadJames chip

Here’s what happened to get us here.

There used to be a service called geocities, you might remember it.

All you needed was a username and password (free) and you had your own website. You chose from a selection of lovely themes and then just typed your content in.

For the really brave you could hand craft your own from scratch, there were even guides.

And most people did because they ran their theme for a bit and then wanted to customise this or that and learned piecemeal.

Aug 31, 2020 at 6:22amWeb
Show threadQuentin LeonettiAug 31, 2020
@big_chip this whole thing could be a very interesting article if you keep going 😊 fascinating topic, and it’s vital to solve if we want the web to improve, we can’t keep it the playground of specialists only
Show threadJames chipAug 31, 2020

@electret I know right. And the spelling mistakes keep you on your toes too!

It really is a problem that need fixing though and I am not sure if I know how.

Show threadQuentin LeonettiAug 31, 2020
@big_chip a lot of people around here are working to simplify websites by avoiding javascript, using minimal css, reduce bandwidth need. All of that is good but it's specialists concerns. If we don't lower the barrier of entry for others, we might win the personal battle (using noscript, adblockers, etc), but lose the bigger war.
Show threadJames chipAug 31, 2020

@electret you also need to make it worthwhile for people to bother. People want constant feedback and interaction with their content. Moving out of then social media bubble makes it hard for that to happen and reduces then perceived reward for taking part.

I too have built my own website generator to create tiny websites. I also dreamed up a tiny blog idea that tuns only in the terminal. For a moment I don’t even pretend that these are ever going to draw people in.
M

Show threadJames chipAug 31, 2020
@electret I have this horrible feeling that the only way to fix this is not just making it easier but to fundamentally change the way people interact with the web and what content actually is.
Show threadQuentin LeonettiAug 31, 2020
@big_chip exactly! if someone doesn't have a compelling reason to use something else than FB etc, they won't bother.