Most of us are probably interested in matters relating to creation, creating, or in how to create ... not only in the spiritual-religious sense, but also in the secular sense --
including, probably, the creation of "Personal Websites" such as this one.
In this page -- which is the first page of the Personal "fork" of my website("Paul Quek's Website") -- I will put up just a little of what has been written about the topic of "personal websites", "personal
webpages", "personal homepages", and the like ... Why just a little? 'Cos like most topics that you can search on the Internet, one can quickly become overwhelmed with TOO MUCH information! ...
Anyway, I will also give my personal take on the whole matter (including a
history of my online effort at "webpaging" or website construction, and how
eventually I ended up in this current incarnation of my website, called simply "Paul Quek's Website").
A person who rejoices in the name of Nathan Shedroff -- who is currently "back home in San Francisco", and is a (according to his
"Me" page in http://www.nathan.com/me/index.html), "designer ... and ... an expert and leader in the fields of Information
Architecture, Interaction Design, and Online and Interactive Media" -- has this
to say about "Personal Websites" way back during the last four years of the
previous (20th) century:
Personal websites are one of the few new forms of personal expression to arise out of the last few decades -- certainly out of the computer and media industries. No longer a simple curiosity, the growth in personal websites points to some inherent need people have for self-expression. However, there is a wide gulf between those who find this medium an exciting opportunity and those who see it as yet another form of self-absorption.
For designers, personal websites are, at once, a new phenomenon (a type of design project never before existing), and at the same time, merely the latest take on that old, established product: the self promotion. There are already a number of issues surrounding this new application, but if anything, personal websites are probably the quintessential fin-de-siècle product as they reflect the natural evolution of Andy Warhol's ideas of fame, blended with Tom Peter's realization that the most important brand is "you."
A personal website may be the best tool with which to build your own brand since it's on 24-7 and accessible to everyone in the world who can touch the Internet . However, this creates its own problems as we'll soon see.
So ... a personal website can be for self-expression and/or for personal branding. Easy enough to understand, right?
But, you know, there doesn't really have to be any reason to have a website, especially when one day, it is likely that everyone will have one. As Nathan Shedroff put it, "Perhaps someday almost everyone will have a personal website the same way that most everyone (at least in the developed world) has a phone number." Or, mobile phone, right? And you don't really think about the why's for having mobile phones, right? Not anymore, anyway!
For more of Nathan's thoughts, click here for the PDF file (remember this stuff was probably in the late-20th century).
Of even more interest (i.e., being personally applicable to me) are the first two paras of a post from a certain "Usman Latif", in thewww.technuser.net site:
Why Personal Websites Matter
by Usman Latif [Nov 08, 2003]
I learned HTML back in 1997 to put up a webpage for students of an introductory programming course. Apart from that webpage it never occurred to me that a personal website can be useful. The big question always has been, why waste the time. Sure, I could put a few personal pictures and other stuff but what good is that?
The crucial insight came only after I started this website. In the three months since I started my website, I have discovered that a personal website is not about putting private information online. It is about making available information/opinions that a person finds interesting, and in the process indirectly documenting his/her interests, opinions, skills, and personality.
So, if nothing else, a personal website is an excellent self-documenting tool, about yourself ...
'Nuff said! (for now)
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