fLaMEd fury speaks on Wonders of Web Weaving podcast

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fLaMEd fury speaks on Wonders of Web Weaving podcast

23 July 2026

I wrote about the Wonders of Web Weaving podcast on Monday, and I’m back. A couple of days ago, an interview with New Zealand/Aotearoa IndieWeb blogger fLaMEd, of fLaMEd fury, was posted.

FlaMEd has been online with a personal website around the same time as I have — the late 1990’s — so the show made for fascinating listening. Tune in if you get a chance.

Kristoffer Tjalve, Elliot Cost, discuss Internet Phone Book, on Wonders of Web Weaving podcast

20 July 2026

A new edition of the Internet Phone Book is in the works, and co-publishers Elliot Cost, and Kristoffer Tjalve (also a Tiny Awards organiser), recently spoke about the esteemed directory on the Wonders of Web Weaving podcast.

There are a ton of podcasts out there, but I take time out to tune in to Wonders of Web Weaving, hosted by James’ Coffee Blog, when a new show is posted.

Production is refreshingly straightforward and stripped back. Absent are ads, the seeming requisite chessy/generic intro/outro music, and conversation starts without delay. There’s a rawness seasoned podcast listeners may not care for, but to me this is part of the charm.

Sometimes glitches even make it into the final cut. On one occasion, someone’s connection dropped out part way through, which was simply acknowledged instead of being smoothed over in post-production. Re-wilding the web in true IndieWeb/SmallWeb fashion…

The Tiny Awards, celebrating the best personal, independent, non-commercial, and newest websites

11 July 2026

The resurgence of personal, independent, and non-commercial websites has been with us for several years, propelled in part by the IndieWeb/SmallWeb communities, and a heap of discontent — to say the least — with the present, excessively commercial, nature of the web.

And this revival couldn’t be more timely. When once we looked at scores of websites daily, today the attention of many people is dominated by perhaps a mere half dozen. But escaping the claustrophobic confines of these so called walled-gardens need not be a challenge.

Web directories — being listings of websites — once a staple of the early web, are also returning in abundance, and teem with links to personal, independent, and non-commercial websites. Ye Old Blogroll is but one example, and if you’re seeking the other web, is a great starting point.

Discovery by way of web directories is not the only path to a more personal, less commercial web, however. Web awards are another option. In the same way perhaps the long and short lists of literary awards, are a great way to source quality book reading suggestions.

The sample may be smaller than the offerings of web directories and good old fashioned blogrolls, but in web awards there might be more chance of finding something you can engage with.

Say web award aloud though, and the response may not be all that enthusiastic. Web awards are sometimes perceived as little more than online fraternities. Places where the usual suspects congregate, to take part in an annual round of mutual backslapping.

Money and influence pave the way to the winner’s podium. These are not arenas where personal, independent, and non-commercial websites, are welcome.

Since 2023 though, the Tiny Awards have been quietly reshaping the perceptions of web awards. For one, commercial websites, and apps, are barred. That means we’re only ever going to see the real deal. In addition, and just as importantly, websites entered for the Tiny Awards cannot be more than twelve months old. You’re at no risk of running into even one of the usual suspects here.

Founded by Matt Muir, Matt Klein and Kristoffer Tjalve, who is also a co-publisher of the Internet Phone Book, the Tiny Awards celebrate the independent, quirky, and utterly unique. Something even a cursory glance at the previous three winners quickly makes apparent.

Rotating Sandwiches, the 2023 winner, by Lauren Walker, might evoke a feeling of déjà vu in people who have been, yes, surfing the web since the 1990’s, an era when personal websites were not personal websites, unless they baffled and awed.

In 2024, the sadly no longer online One Minute Park (Internet Archive link), designed by Elliot Cost, who incidentally co-publishes the Internet Phone Book, triumphed. And in 2025, Fifty Thousand Names, a memorial to the then fifty-thousand people killed in the Gaza war, by Leo Scarin, won.

These are websites we do not see often anymore. And that, says Kristoffer, is part the idea of the Tiny Awards. He hopes to see a change in “the public perception of what makes a good website.”

He cites the work of French landscape architect Gilles Clément as an analogy. Clément would sometimes incorporate weeds in his garden designs. As he sees it, “weeds are no longer a symbol of abandonment, but an expression of resilience.”

Incorporating “weeds” into website design? How’s that for re-wilding the web? Kristoffer is in favour.

“I believe a similar shift would be beneficial for the web, and I’m happy that the first three winners all represent slightly different designs compared to the traditional online awards, because maybe they are foreign compared to the public perception, but they are surely more native to the web.”

In that context, it seems apt One Minute Park won the 2024 award. For those who missed it, the site featured rolling motion footage, clips of sixty seconds duration each, of public parks across the world. Rare is the public park that is completely weed-free, whether that be intentional or otherwise.

But One Minute Park was not the only website honoured by the Tiny Awards in 2024.

One Million Checkboxes, designed by Nolen Royalty, won a special category dubbed the Multiplayer award. So called as the project allowed anyone visiting One Million Checkboxes to participate in the action. The dual awards in 2024 made me wonder if the Tiny Awards might one day expand to include other categories. Or something along the lines of, say, a lifetime achievement award.

Matt Klein said that while the organisers had given the idea thought, they like the awards as they are.

“At their core, I think, the Tiny Awards reject the notion that people need awards to feel good about their work. If you’ve made something with passion and your own hands, and put it out into the world, that’s the reward in itself.”

That’s a sentiment that resonates with me. The only real reward I often seek in my web work is to be writing here, at my website. And as Matt Muir says, encouraging the creation of new websites of a personal, independent, and non-commercial nature, is the main goal of the awards.

“I think it’s also important that we focus on new sites, to act as push-back against the (sadly all-too-prevalent) idea that the web is somehow dying; it’s not, people are building new things every day, you just need some help finding them.”

“The Tiny Awards is about celebrating the fact that the web is still growing, is still full of creativity, is still full of potential rather than looking back nostalgically at some imagined ideal of When The Web Was Perfect.”

Now in their fourth year, it’s fair to say the Tiny Awards are a fixture in the personal/independent web sphere. But what of the future? How long might the awards continue? Will they still be with us in a few years time? Or next year, for that matter.

Matt Klein’s response to the question is succinct, “It’s always been and will likely be: one year at a time.” Matt Muir doesn’t look too far ahead either, but thinks reaching five years would constitute a pleasing milestone.

Kristoffer sees no reason why the awards couldn’t continue indefinitely, as they’re relatively straightforward to organise, although this would be contingent on the ongoing support of both the Matts. Kristoffer would also like to see the awards carry on until they have a Wikipedia page.

I’m not sure exactly how serious that aspiration is, but after four years of the Tiny Awards, it seems like a page on Wikipedia can’t be too far away. That would surely be achievement unlocked. But someone tell me quickly: I’m not tempting fate in saying that, right?

Thanks to Matt Muir, Matt Klein, and Kristoffer Tjalve, for their assistance with this article.

Nominations for Tiny Awards, for personal web projects, open now

22 June 2026

Nominations for the 2026 Tiny Awards, are being accpted until the end of the month, June.

Entry is open to websites of a non-commercial and/or personal nature, launched between July 2025 and July 2026. Submissions from brands and agencies are not accepted. The same goes for apps.

Given only relatively new websites are eligible, I’m thinking recent events across the world will form the focus or subject matter of a number of nominations.

Good Internet magazine pauses publishing

18 June 2026

Good Internet only started publishing, both online and in print, about a year ago.

News that the founders have decided to cease publication indefinitely is sad for for the IndieWeb/SmallWeb community, whom the magazine supported.

Running an online magazine is a major undertaking on its own. A print version is another matter all together. An independent publisher I know in Australia, did something similar several years ago.

Whenever I asked how it was going, their first response was to say they were making no money, only breaking even, and that the venture was entirely a labour of love. It sure isn’t easy.

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IndieWeb, self publishing, SmallWeb

Font Awesome cans renaming plans for Eleventy static site generator

17 March 2026

Proposals were afoot to rename Eleventy — often styled 11ty — a blog publishing platform favoured by some Indie/Small Web bloggers, as Build Awesome.

The awesome part of 11ty’s would-be new name derives from Font Awesome, producers of a wide range of icons website publishers can make use of. I’ve used their icons in the past, in place of the text menu items presently in the animated colour bar above the title of this post.

11ty was acquired by Font Awesome in September 2024.

To accompany the renaming, a Kickstarter campaign was, from what I can tell, launched to fund development of a more commercial “website builder” version of 11ty, while the original blog publishing platform would remain free to use.

But both the fund raiser, and renaming plans, have been paused after Font Awesome claimed only a handful of emails promoting the Kickstarter campaign had reached intended recipients.

A backlash by 11ty publishers against the renaming proposal however seems the more likely reason.

Even though 11ty creator Zach Leatherman joined Font Awesome at the time of the acquisition, the company appears to have completely misunderstood the veneration in which the blogging platform, as 11ty, is held by publishers. Why even consider changing the name of such a highly regarded product in the first place, and worse still contemplate something like Build Awesome?

The more personal websites there are, the better the web will be

6 January 2026

A website to destroy all websites, by Henry Desroches.

Hand-coded, syndicated, and above all personal websites are exemplary: They let users of the internet to be autonomous, experiment, have ownership, learn, share, find god, find love, find purpose. Bespoke, endlessly tweaked, eternally redesigned, built-in-public, surprising UI and delightful UX. The personal website is a staunch undying answer to everything the corporate and industrial web has taken from us.

The website (to destroy all websites) in question is the personal website, because through personal websites, we build the web we want to have. If you only read one article about the present state of the web, make it this one.

Are you a ‘small i’ indie web, or ‘capital I’ IndieWeb, publisher?

30 December 2025

Chris Shaw, writing at uncountable thoughts:

The IndieWeb is, as far as I can tell, a community of people who advocate certain digital principles and support each other in working towards those. The most famous principle is Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere. There are a variety of initiatives such as the monthly blog carnival (which I have hosted in the past) and online/in-person meetups.

The indie web, on the other hand, is a (very) much larger universe of websites run by individuals who wish to express their independent creativity.

You can, as I am, be an indie web publisher, without being an IndieWeb publisher.

Many personal websites and blogs pre-date the IndieWeb movement, sometimes by well over a decade, but align with some IndieWeb principles. I am definitely in that category, and henceforth shall refer to myself as a ‘small i’ indie web publisher.

Users may have to pay to post links on Facebook pages. Time to get a website

22 December 2025

Ivan Mehta, writing for TechCrunch:

Over the last week, several users have spotted Meta’s test, which impacts link posting. Social media strategist Matt Navarra noted that users part of the test can only post two links unless they pay for a Meta Verified subscription, which starts from $14.99 per month.

The proposed regime will apply to those who use professional mode on the social network.

Like many website owners, I can post as many links as I want to here, without the need to pay a cent to Meta, or be “verified” by them.

Neocities, Nekoweb, bringing back the weird personal websites

4 December 2025

Neocities, kind of born out of the ashes of once popular personal website hosting service Geocities, and Nekoweb, are on a mission to restore weird personal websites.

With over one-point-three-million sites on their servers, Neocities, which was established in 2013, has made a substantial contribution. Nekoweb was founded last year, but has a growing membership.

Their goals are similar however, says Stevie Bonifield, writing for The Verge:

Across both, you’ll see a strange mix of old and new, like anti-AI webrings, a personal website in the style of the ’90s but themed around a Hobonichi Techo planner, or one website that’s an interactive re-creation of Windows 98. Even the demographics of the indie web are evidence of this — the community seems to skew young, largely under 30, so many of the people making these pages probably missed out on the original GeoCities (myself included).

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