---
title: Why Communities Choose Independence
date: 2025-07-06
featureImageCaption: "Photo by Chad Davis, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 (CC BY 2.0): https://www.flickr.com/photos/146321178@N05/49062863796. License link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/"
summary: When communities build and own their own technology, something wonderful happens. They discover tools that actually serve their needs, data that stays theirs, and neighbors who become collaborators. Here's what draws communities to independence.
aliases:
- /articles/arguments-against-centralization/
---

When communities start running their own digital infrastructure, they often discover something unexpected: it's not just about avoiding the downsides of big platforms. It's about what becomes possible when technology actually belongs to the people who use it.

Here's what communities tell us about why they chose independence—and what they found on the other side.

## "We wanted tools that fit our needs"

**The discovery:** When you build your own tools, they can reflect your actual priorities.

Communities have different needs. A rural cooperative needs different things than an urban advocacy organization. A group preserving Indigenous languages has different priorities than an artist collective. Global platforms are designed for the average of everyone, which means they're perfect for no one.

When the Equitable Internet Initiative in Detroit started building community wireless networks, they didn't just get internet access—they got infrastructure designed around their neighborhoods' actual geography, needs, and values. The technology bent to serve the community, not the other way around.

**What communities say:**
- "For the first time, we're not second-class citizens waiting for a company to decide our neighborhood is profitable enough."
- "We can add features that matter to us, even if they'd never make sense for a global platform."
- "The tools actually work the way our community works."

## "We wanted our data to stay ours"

**The discovery:** When you control your infrastructure, privacy becomes real.

On most platforms, your data is the product. Your messages, your files, your patterns of behavior—all of it feeds business models built on knowing everything about you.

When communities run their own services, that changes completely. Your email stays on servers you control. Your files aren't being scanned to train AI models. Your private conversations are actually private.

**What communities say:**
- "We work with vulnerable populations. We couldn't in good conscience put their information on platforms that monetize data."
- "It's not that we have anything to hide. It's that privacy is a basic form of respect."
- "Our members trust us more because they can see exactly where their data lives."

## "We wanted to meet our neighbors"

**The discovery:** Building technology together builds community.

This is the one that surprises people most. Communities that build their own infrastructure consistently report that the technology becomes an excuse for connection.

In Detroit's community wireless networks, installation days became neighborhood events. People who'd lived on the same block for years finally met each other. Teenagers taught seniors about networking; elders shared wisdom about community organizing. The technical work created relationships that extended far beyond technology.

**What communities say:**
- "I met more neighbors in three months of antenna installations than in five years of living here."
- "The young people teaching the older folks—and the older folks teaching right back—that's community."
- "We came for the internet. We stayed for each other."

## "We wanted to build skills"

**The discovery:** Technical literacy is a gift communities can give themselves.

When communities run their own technology, knowledge spreads. People who never thought of themselves as "technical" discover they can learn, contribute, and eventually teach others.

This isn't about everyone becoming a systems administrator. It's about enough people in a community understanding how things work that the community isn't dependent on outside experts for everything.

**What communities say:**
- "I was terrified of anything technical. Now I help onboard new community members."
- "We have teenagers who started as curious helpers and are now leading projects."
- "The skills stay in our community. We're not dependent on consultants who disappear."

## "We wanted resilience"

**The discovery:** When you own your infrastructure, no one can take it away.

Platforms change their terms. Companies get acquired, pivot, or shut down. Services that millions depend on can disappear with a press release.

Communities that run their own infrastructure don't face these risks. Their communication channels, their archives, their shared spaces persist because they own them. No distant business decision can cut them off.

**What communities say:**
- "We've watched other organizations lose years of community history when platforms shut down. That won't happen to us."
- "When a platform we used changed their policies overnight, we were glad we'd already moved our critical communications."
- "Our infrastructure will last as long as our community wants it to."

## "We wanted our resources to stay local"

**The discovery:** Money and skills invested in community infrastructure build community wealth.

When communities pay for big tech services, that money leaves. When they build their own infrastructure, the investment stays local—in equipment owned by the community, in skills held by community members, in capacity that grows over time.

**What communities say:**
- "Instead of subscription fees going to California, we're paying local people to maintain local infrastructure."
- "Every dollar we spend builds something we own."
- "The skills and equipment stay here. We're building wealth, not renting access."

## "We wanted technology that felt good"

**The discovery:** Technology designed for community, not engagement, actually feels different.

Big platforms are optimized for engagement—keeping you scrolling, clicking, reacting. That's how they make money. But engagement optimization often means anxiety, comparison, and compulsive checking.

Community-owned platforms don't need to maximize your time on site. They can be designed for actual usefulness and genuine connection.

**What communities say:**
- "I forgot social media could feel good until I joined a community-run instance."
- "There's no algorithm trying to make me angry so I'll keep scrolling."
- "It's calmer. More like a town square and less like a casino."

## "We wanted to be part of something larger"

**The discovery:** Independence doesn't mean isolation.

Communities running their own infrastructure aren't alone. They're part of a growing movement of communities, organizations, and individuals building alternatives together.

Through federation protocols, open standards, and shared knowledge, independent communities can connect with each other while maintaining their autonomy. It's cooperation without centralization.

**What communities say:**
- "We run our own instance, but we're connected to thousands of others."
- "The community of people doing this work is incredibly generous with knowledge and support."
- "We're independent, but we're not isolated. That's the whole point."

## Getting started

If any of this resonates, you're not alone. Communities around the world are already building independent technology, and they're eager to help others join them.

You don't need to be technical to start. You don't need to do everything at once. Many communities begin with a single service—a shared file server, a community chat, a local wireless network—and grow from there.

The [Civil Society Technology Foundation](/about/) exists to help communities on this journey. Our [Wild Cloud project](/projects/wild-cloud/) provides the tools, and our community provides the support.

Come see what becomes possible when communities own their digital homes.
