Unplatform is an interactive guidebook, online library, and recommendations database intended to help you escape social media and join the indie web.

• ?: What do you mean by "social media?"

  >: I mean ad-supported, data harvesting social platforms platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and X, just to name a few. In general, I am trying to help you leave sites that:

  • rely on the sale of ads and / or user data to generate revenue;
  • deliver content to their users exclusively or primarily through algorithmic feeds;
  • cannot sustain themselves with their own revenue (and as a result rely on speculative investment to survive);

  Almost all the dysfunction of the modern Internet can be traced back to one of the above dynamics - and it's those dynamics that Unplatform seeks to help you escape.

• ?: What's the indie web?

  >: The indie web (or alt web, or Web 1.5, or whatever you want to call it) is composed of the vast network of websites, organizations, and software projects on the Internet run by people outside the orbit of Web 2.0 and Silicon Valley.

• ?: Why would I want to join the indie web?

  >: While "log off" and "touch grass" are perfectly acceptable reactions to the current digital landscape, the fact remains that there's presumably some reason you were using social media in the first place. Maybe it was for sharing art, or reading news, or getting notified about events - in any case, if you still want to do those things without engaging with the Web 2.0 hellscape, the indie web is the way to do it.

  
  

  Over the last few years, you've probably heard defeatist truisms thrown around like "there's only five websites now" or "the Internet is dead." I'm here to tell you that those "truisms" are false, and the proof of their falseness lies in the indie web. On my newsletter, >: From The Superhighway, I've been covering a ton of vibrant art projects, online communities, and public utilities outside traditional social media platforms since September 2024 - and there's always far too many exciting things happening at any one time to fit them all in any one issue.

  
  

  You probably haven't heard of most of those exciting things, and that's not your fault. Web 2.0 - and the platforms that dominate it - have kept them from you. Recently they've started doing it on purpose, but they've always done it by design. Unplatform is here to rectify that.

• ?: Who are you?

  >: I'm ajazz. I'm a writer and web developer who's been publishing work online since 2017, and I've been involved in the indie web in some capacity since early 2024.

  
  

  My motivation for creating Unplatform is simple. Once upon a time, I, too, was a digital defeatist that believed that the Internet was beyond saving, and that Silicon Valley had achieved total control over the digital world. It's been a deeply humbling and extremely inspiring experience to be proven wrong - and not only do I no longer believe that the Internet is a lost cause, I believe there's never been a better time to take it back.

  
  

  But it won't be easy. Silicon Valley is holding our communities, careers, and conciousnesses hostage. They lured us onto their platforms over the course of 20 years with the promise of access and convenience, and now that they've gone completely mask off, they're betting on the idea that we've got too much invested in them to walk away. Unplatform is here to help you prove them wrong.

• ?: How do I get started?

  >: Click here to start the Unplatform interactive guide, which will walk you through the whole process.

• ?: How can I help?

  I'm glad you asked. There's several things you can do to make an impact:

  Recommendations

  Our database is in constant need of recommendations for new software, services, and sites. We're currently looking for recommendations for the following:

  
  

  • Event venues, magazines, newspapers, or other websites with active RSS feeds or newsletters;
  • Newbie-friendly website builders and blogging / microblogging platforms to help indie web newcomers get up and running fast;
  • Alternative social platforms that promote human curation, creation, and connection, without selling user data for profit, forcing the use of algorithmic feeds, or using user content as AI training data.
  • Important or foundational articles about the past and present of social media, the Web, and Internet for the Unplatform library.

  
  

  If you're interested in contributing a recommendation to Unplatform, you can do it through Github, or you can shoot an email to [email protected].

  Teammates

  While Unplatform is currently a one-man show, I don't want it to stay that way forever. My ambition is to have Unplatform be managed by an editorial committee staffed by committed partisans of the indie web.
  

  
  

  If you are (or know someone) who has a strong interest in the indie web and the work history, projects, or credentials to back it up, shoot me an email - I'd like to talk.

  Feedback

  Unplatform is only worthwhile if people are getting real utility from it. I'm always looking for feedback on every aspect of the project, whether it be related to the interactive guide, our database, our library, or our design. If you have any general feedback about the project, please send it to [email protected]. I'll try my best to get back to you.

  
  

  For actual bugs or technical issues, please direct them to the issues page on our Github.