The host I was using for my personal website has up and vanished so as I think about finding a new one I've also been thinking about rebuilding the site into something new. But then I got to wondering, what I would be doing all this work for? Do people really still bother with personal sites these days or do they just put their stuff on facebook or a blog? I'm not really looking to sell myself as a studio or anything yet I feel compelled to keep my projects on some corner of the internet even if I'm the only person that's there. But by having that space available to me I feel like I should be doing something more. What are your thoughts on personal websites these days? As programmers, should we still make a point of maintaining our own site? If so, what should it be? Or does it matter? [Edited by - Ravuya on February 9, 2010 4:16:19 PM]

Here's what I think about personal websites.

>> should we still make a point of maintaining our own site? ... does it matter?

This is entirely up to the individual.

Why did you create your first web site? Why do you want to create a new one?


I have a personal web site for my own personal reasons. I do not care about what other programmers should or should not do.


If you have your own reasons to create a site, then do so. It really has nothing to do with what other people are doing.

A personal website is still fairly good to keep thoughts in one place that only you want to read. When I was in college, it was nice to have several private blogs, one for each project I was working on, since I moved around quite a bit. It's also nice to have a place to throw up some stuff when I was on a team of people. And it's also good to have a place where I can say, "Hey, play around with some programs I made."

I don't see a point in blogging on your own website for the public to read unless you have a project that people would actively follow. That is better handled by a community of blogs and will probably be more beneficial to your project if you join an already established community.

I find it's a good way to make software, code, and ideas accessible to the public. I suppose you could use a blog, but a large project may span several years and many different posts, so a centralised place to keep track of your projects is good. A proper write-up of a project will also be much nicer to read than several blog posts.

As for using other services (e.g. Facebook) – these are closed systems and quite restrictive in what you can do. With a personal website, you can organise the information in any way you see fit. I also do not trust them with my information.

I really enjoy reading the personal websites of programmers, especially if they are involved in fields that I also enjoy. I am less enamoured with blogs, as they are generally less coherent. Judging by the incoming links to my own website, it appears that others are finding the stuff I've put up there of some interest, which is good enough reason to keep it up.

I think that personal websites are good for artists or people that have to have a portfolio. It's much easier for a personal website to manage offering those things to other people than a blog would.

But, overall, I would think a blog is good enough.

I keep a personal website, but I mainly leave it up as a sort of permanent resume that I occasionally update. When I was a student one of my professors expected us to present all of our animations in front of the class from our personal site, which is when I got it up and running. I don't get onto Facebook much to "blog" or anything, but I do use it to see what people I know are up to. Same thing with LinkedIn. I have used the GameDev journal and there for a little bit "blogging" though.

I think the best thing about a personal site is that it is something you have complete control over and makes for a good place to story your code, art, whatever, as well as your resume.

Personal websites are fine, provided they look good and are kept relatively up to date. The "Welcome to my homepage" in 1997's styling and information dating back to then also really doesn't float my boat. Some of my friends have very nice websites, complete with excellent information about themselves, beautiful photos they've taken etc. Well worth it and I'm about to buy a domain and do something similar.

One phenomenon I can't be bothered with, however: "Vlogging", or video blogging. It's really pretty cretinous; who seriously gives a fuck? They're just self-centred, attention-seeking and pointless and because of the audio visual impact they're in your face and more distracting than written blogs.

Seen quite a few interesting blogs, never ever seen a worthwhile vlog. If you ever feel the urge to vlog, cancel your Internet subscription please.

My opinion on whether or not you should create a personal site is much the same as for any other type of website: Never Get Involved in a Land War in Asia (or Build a Website for No Reason). Do you have a reason for creating the site?

I agree with those saying that you should have a personal site for personal reasons. I have one, and while some of the things I post have been interesting to other people, I don't always post stuff I feel others will be interested in. Mainly I use it to note things I want to remember - it's fun to go through it every now and then and relive things from years past.