WHAT IS THE WEB REVIVAL GROUP?
RELATED HASHTAGS
#webrevival #indieweb #socialweb #humanetech #smolweb #indie-maker
Do you miss when the Internet was personal and filled with surprises?
POTENTIAL AUDIENCE
The speculated audience for this group are people in the Greater Nashua Area that…
- are writers, artists, indie makers, designers, bloggers, hobbyists, curators, culture hounds…
- want to have control of their home on the internet, free to make it as uniquely theirs as possible
- are willing to put in the effort to learn how to tame the technology
- are comfortable with experimental hands-on approaches to learning web technology
- like sharing their stories and interests in the context of putting cool stuff online
- miss the 1990s-2000s when the Internet was a wild place full of surprises
Our proposed group is a “show-and-tell” gathering for people who are making their own websites to share their interests, without relying on centralized social media.
We want to take the Internet back into our own hands and have fun again!
We do not want our experiences online to be gatekept by corporate algorithms designed to exploit our connected lives for their profit over our wellbeing. There are tools are available for us to use! We are willing to learn, build, and share!
GROUP ORGANIZATION
Staffing Notes
We are an informal volunteer group. It is being spearheaded by Sri (pronouns: they/them), who would like to be around people who are making things. They like to dabble in writing, graphic design, and web development.
It would also be nice to have volunteers who enjoy (but are not limited to):
- writing notes about what we learned at the meeting and updating a website
- being excited about what is happening around them in the community
- publishing pretty-looking stuff online and in print to broadcast goings-on in the group
A key activity for the staff is to create fun and engaging online summaries of what’s going on in the Greater Nashua area, using the very technologies we are using to create our Web Revival.
Proposed Meeting Format
Initially, we will have a number of informal hosted gatherings in public spaces, where people can express what they are interested in and what they would like to see. We are gauging interest.
An early focus will be finding out who likes doing what, and whether they would like to help guide the group’s development in alignment to both the group mission and their own interests.
After these initial meetings, we’ll solidify this group charter and find a regular meeting spot. A simple website will be set up somewhere that describes the group that will serve as a centralized gathering place.
Our initial regular meeting format will likely be Show-and-Tell, an informal meeting structure where people can simply talk about what they’re doing and share knowledge. The tone is set by a host which helps guide the conversation and takes the time to get to know each person. Visibility of the meeting’s value is captured through shared notes that persist on a central website, so people on the fence about joining will see what they are missing.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
If the group sustains itself over time, special interest groups may be added based on member Some possibible topics:
SHARING THE VIBE
- sharing what we make without apology
- celebrating our perseverance in posting our interests
- feeling connected to others who are doing stuff online
TECH
- sharing tips and know-how without judgment
- colaborating to get hands dirty and try things out
- sharing info about tools available to people at any level
- graphic design, video, podcasting
SOCIAL
- how to create belonging on our own terms?
- how to bridge to different networks
- creating local community ties to online content
- tools community builders use
GROUP RESOURCES
- compiling a resource list for members of all levels of technical ability and resources
- finding community builders who are using web technologies in Nashua area
- creating a directory of local websites
ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- question: How does this make us feel? How does this create belonging?
- question: How does psychological safety grow intro trust and lead to change?
- identifying community roles: architects, creators, builders, supporters, consumers, organization leaders
- identifying community member archetypes (e.g. Scott McCloud’s types of creators)
GROUP MISSION
The initial mission of the Web Revival group is simply this:
To regularly host gatherings of people who are building their personal own websites, and have fun talking about what we’re doing!
The focus is on building fun websites and sharing stories about that experience. Sustained over time, the desirable outcome is that people make acquaintances with other people in the area who are publishing unique content for the sake of it.
My hope is that people will meet people they might not have met otherwise, forming new creative connections that strengthen our local community. With luck and time, people will form partnerships to create their own collaborative visions.
WHAT THE GROUP IS NOT
The group mission of “building fun websites for our personal interests” is quite accepting, though we limit discussion in the following areas. We will do our best to help people find appropriate resources in the area.
1. We love learning, but we are NOT an instructional group or class!
The group is not a teaching resource for web technology; there are plenty of classes and online videos that already do that well.
Our focus is to share the excitement of making something ourselves and putting it on the Internet in its full glory, to embrace our experiments, and celebrate our successes. Sharing of knowledge and know-how is part of this celebration.
2. We love engagement, but the group DOES NOT address meeting business or marketing needs!
This group is not a business/marketing strategy meetup. If you are looking for marketing aspects of being online, farming engagement, or being an influencer, there are already plenty of such groups that cover those topics in much greater depth!
Our focus instead is on having the confidence to share your interests in your own voice online and owning it. While not strictly anti-commercial, our main focus is on self-education and self-empowement to make the Internet ours again. This is the way the Internet used to be before the 2010s. This is the revival we want to see for ourselves.
3. We like our independence, but the group DOES NOT address meeting activist or political goals!
While the topics of this group emphasize being free of centralized control, it is not an ideological group to lament the state of the world and seek to change it through activism. There are political groups and activist movements that provide that focus, so we focus on the joy of building and creating. This human-to-human connection is the foundation of a better world.
Our focus is to study tools for building data independence online so it can not be taken away from us. This is a skill that can certainly be applied toward movements of your choice; it just is not part of this group’s mission! What you can learn with us is your skill to apply toward what ends you desire.
The latest version of this work can be found at:
dsriseah.com/expedition/web-revival/2026/0531-wrg-proposal/
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International