The Indie Internet Index — submit your favorite sites

What is the Indie Internet Index?

A new directory called the Indie Internet Index has quietly appeared with one simple aim: collect and showcase great independent websites. The project lives at https://iii.social, and it invites people to submit the small, creative corners of the web they love — the personal blogs, niche zines, hobbyist projects and one-off experiments that don’t live inside a giant platform. It has been reported that the project surfaced in conversation on Hacker News, where early adopters are already trading recommendations.

Why this matters

Why bother? Because discovery on the modern web is often dictated by opaque algorithms and platform gatekeepers. The indie internet is a counterweight — a return to serendipity, to knowing the person behind the site. There’s something quietly powerful in pointing a reader to a single, lovingly maintained page instead of another feed. This is nostalgia with a purpose: not just longing for the RSS era, but building practical scaffolding for independent creators to be found.

How to contribute

Want to help build it out? Visit iii.social and add a site you think deserves attention. Share a hidden gem, a long-running hobby blog, or that tiny podcast that somehow slipped under the radar. It’s a community-sourced roll call of the web outside the walled gardens — and the more people who pitch in, the better it will be. Curious what others are submitting? Check the Hacker News thread for reactions and suggestions; it has been reported that early discussion is already shaping the list.

Sources: iii.social, Hacker News