The Issues around Personal Websites: Prestige

Domain names, the word between the @ and the period, have always been a source of prestige. Years ago, an email address at The WELL, one of the oldest and most vibrant online communities spoke volumes about your abilities, your commitment, and your interests. It was a kind of Park Place address (from Monopoly) compared to the more pedestrian addresses at AOL or Prodigy. In fact, the lowliest of addresses were those at CompuServe and Prodigy where for years you were only a number and could not even have a real "name" assigned to your account. Domains of the tonier ISPs, like Sirius or Earthlink, spoke of your independence and technological savvy. Corporate domains indicated that you might be online all the time (or that you surfed primarily from work), that the professional and personal had already begun to blur for you. And, of course, personal domains--especially those with only a first name--have become the most coveted and prestigious domains to have associated with either your email address or URL--so much so that people are having to register domains in other countries since their desired domains are already taken in the USA.

 

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