Are you thinking about your own web presence?

[Torsten]

Hi, do you think that in a couple of years almost everybody will have either they own domain name or least their own webpage? I do because it makes perfect sense: Instead or in addition to having your paper based resume or CV, it's much better if you have your own web presence and potential employers can find you.

So what's your take on this?
Thanks,
Torsten
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[Jamie (K)]

Most people don't need their own web page, and the potential to embarrass oneself is enormous.

[MrPedantic]

Some people post up very surprising things under their real names. It's certainly a very great aid to potential employers.

[Torsten]

[Yankee]

Hi Torsten

Just because someone has their own personal domain name doesn't in and of itself ensure quality, expertise or even much knowledge in anything. There are plenty of online sites offering "expertise" of one kind or another that I wouldn't trust for a second.

[MrPedantic]

[Jamie (K)]

Beyond that, going to people's personal web pages is an inefficient way of finding the service you want. It's better to go to the website of some professional association and look the person up in their directory. I have no website, and no domain name of my own, but I'm getting tons of work because of my presence in three professional directories. I can tell you that not a single client cares that I don't have my own domain name.

Torsten, I find it particularly weird that you wouldn't take a university course from someone who doesn't have his own web page. I don't see what an ability to do web design and site administration has to do with accounting, history or glassmaking.

[Torsten]

The person doesn't necessarily have their own domain name, at least not right now. This will change in a couple of years when your own domain name will be similar to having your own email address. If your email address reads "yourname@yahoo.com", you promote Yahoo every time you hand out your business card. If your email address reads "firstname.surname@yourname.com", you promote your own name rather than that of another company that almost everyone knows anyway.

I would find it weird to be taught by a university professor whose name doesn't produce any Google search result. Let's say, the professor's name was "Prof. Michael Sutherland". If I googled that name and there wasn't any information about him on the web, I would find that rather strange.

Establishing your own web presence doesn't have that much to do with being able to design web pages just like having your paper based business card doesn't require you to be an expert in graphic design and marketing.
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[Jamie (K)]

The professor will be on his own university's web pages and in its directory. His domain will be the domain of his university. I would be suspicious of a professor who showed up in Google search results under his own domain instead of that of his university.

And with that scheme of yours, "firstname.surname@yourname.com", how are poor Sabine Meyer and Jan Novák going to get their own domain names? Somebody with that name already has it by now.

I'm sorry, Torsten, but I really think you're off on Mars on this one.

[Torsten]

No need to be sorry, Jamie. I'm sure you know that are a lot of alternative top level domains available such as .name or .info, etc. and there might be even new ones created because the demand for them has been rising constantly. There are always people who think that they don't need to embrace new technologies. I remember about 10 years ago I would often mention that very soon everyone will have their own email address. You know, there were so many people back then, who, just like you told me that this will never happen. What would you need your own email address for?

So what exactly is wrong with a university professor having his own domain name? Are you saying you don't know any university professor who has his own domain name?

As for Sabine Meyer, if she is a creative person, she will come up with domain name that she can identify with. She can either use another top level domain such as .net, .us, .eu, .info, etc. or create a name she wants to promote as her own. She can still join any association, index or network she finds useful. With her own domain name and her own unique email address, she just will stand out from the rest of the Yahoo and Hotmail users.

For example, when Sabine applies for a new job, her own website or webpage will give her the edge over her competitors for a number of reasons.
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[Jamie (K)]

All I can think is that you've read a motivational book from the 1990s and have gotten too excited over it.

Not having your own domain and web page isn't a "refusal to embrace new technologies". It's an acknowledgement that resources on the web have developed to the point where one doesn't have to have one. A true professional in some field probably doesn't have the time to develop the skills necessary to design a nice web page, and he knows that the institution he works for, or a networking site, or some other resource will allow him to put his information on the web for less trouble and expense.

If I saw that a professor had his own domain name and a website that served no other purpose than presenting himself, it would definitely make me think he was behind the times, and that his head was stuck back somewhere around 1994. In the mid-1990s, when the web was new to people, some of them put up their own web pages, but they didn't know what to do with them. They were basically pages that said, "Hi. I'm Joe Shmoe. I have this web page." Since those old days, as things on the web have become more organized, ready-made resources have been made available that people can use to achieve the same purpose without having to learn web design or hire a designer.

So if a professor has his own domain name and website, he'd better have it for a very specific reason, such as owning his own consulting company or something like that. If it's just something to carry his profile, then I'd think he's stuck in the '90s.

Here is how I equate some of your statements:

[1995] "Someday nearly everyone will have his own e-mail address."
= [1925] "Someday nearly everyone will have his own car."
Yes, because the e-mail address and the car are both tools to get things done. They help people do other things they're focused on.

[2004] "Someday nearly everyone will have his own domain name and website."
= [1925] "Someday nearly everyone will manufacture his own car himself."
Both are dumb statements, because people want the tool to help them with the profession they're focused on. They don't want to have to learn to build the tool themselves and waste time doing it.

[Torsten]

[Jamie (K)]

[Torsten]

These are interesting questions to answer in this context:
1) How many people/freelancers/companies had their own website in 1998?
2) How many people/freelancers/companies have their own website in 2008?
3) How many people/companies will have their own website in 2010?
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[Torsten]

Here is another example of how professionals can use their web presence to promote their services: Robert Wichert
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