====== Supporting Independent Creators ======

Supporting independent creators means more than buying them a coffee. The independent web runs on people who build themes, tools, zines, platforms, and essays in their spare time, and most of the meaningful support is free: attention, links, labour, and presence.

Adapted from [[https://brennan.day/how-you-can-support-indie-creators-and-you-need-to/|How You Can Support Indie Creators, and You Need To]] on brennan.day.

===== Why It Matters =====

The alternative to supporting independent work is funding the corporate kind by default. Cory Doctorow's [[https://www.versobooks.com/products/3341-enshittification|enshittification]] describes the platform decay cycle: good to users, then users are abused for business customers, then everything is extracted for shareholders. [[https://www.pewresearch.org/2023/11/09/tipping-culture-in-america-public-sees-a-changed-landscape/|Pew Research]] found that around 72% of Americans say tipping is now expected in more places than five years ago, yet the people whose work actually builds the open web are rarely tipped at all.

===== How to Support =====

  * **Share the work.** Repost, recommend, link from your blog. Interlinking is the circulation system. See [[indieweb:interlinking|Interlinking]].
  * **Contribute labour.** Star repositories, open issues, submit fixes, correct typos, add documentation and examples.
  * **Refer work.** Connect creators to people who could hire or use their services.
  * **Join the community.** Discords, forums, newsletters, meetups. Presence is a contribution.
  * **Collaborate.** Guest posts, joint projects, podcast invitations: work made together circulates further.
  * **Invite them to speak.** Talks and panels build the commons and the creator's standing at once.
  * **Give feedback.** Comments, guestbook entries, and email are the reward that keeps small work going.
  * **Subscribe.** RSS, newsletters, and Patreon free tiers all count. See [[indieweb:blogging|Blogging Platforms]].
  * **Pay when you can.** The platforms, themes, and servers that make the independent web run cost real money. See [[indieweb:indie_platforms|Independent Platforms]].

===== See Also =====

  * [[indieweb:start|IndieWeb]]
  * [[indieweb:community|Community]]
  * [[indieweb:neighbourhood|Being a Good Neighbour]]
  * [[indieweb:interlinking|Interlinking]]
  * [[indieweb:indie_platforms|Independent Platforms]]
  * [[indieweb:internet_as_place|The Internet as a Place]]
  * [[start|Return to wiki home]]