A person who rejoices in the name of Nathan Shedroff -- who is currently "back home in San Francisco", and is (according to his
"Me" page in http://www.nathan.com/me/index.html), a "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:
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 hyperlink
If you have any difficulty with that link, you may click here for a PDF extract.
(Remember: this stuff was probably written in the late-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. ...
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 hyperlink
If you have any difficulty with that link, you may click here for a PDF extract.
(Remember: this stuff was probably written in the late-20th century).
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