The World Wide Web is currently a petri dish where personal stories,
political debates, artistic experiments, online newspapers and shameless
self-promotion by corporations and individuals alike all grow organically
side by side.
From the practical to the ridiculous to the sublime, anything goes on the
World Wide Web. With just a few mouse clicks I was able to:
- Track my Federal Express package.
- Read the New York Times.
- Check in on David Woza in Cape
Town, South Africa, as he begins his 88 days of isolation with only an
Internet connection to link him with the outside world.
- View plants in the Tele-Garden by
controlling a remote robot arm and camera via my browser.
- Receive spiritual guidance from Marianne Williamson on the Spirituality and Yoga
Page.
I love this atmosphere of creative anarchy. For me, it's the grown-up
equivalent of building sand castles and mud pies. I even like getting my
elbows dirty. But for many people, the difficulty of finding web sites of
interest makes them wonder why they should even bother web surfing, let
alone spend time concocting their own home page.
10 Reasons to Bother Publishing a Personal Home
Page
Ok. It's true. The World Wide Web is the most popular vanity press around.
But ego gratification is just one of many human needs. Other motivations to
publish a home page include:
Noble Reasons
- Make connections with people who have similar interests.
- Share specialized knowledge and enthusiasm for a particular topic.
- Share a personal experience that might help someone else learn from
your experience.
Playful Reasons
- Have Fun! Try out new ideas.
- Leave your mark on the Internet.
- Renew a dormant urge to be an artist or a writer.
- Quickly reach a large, geographically diverse audience.
- Collaborate with a friend, colleague or family member.
Practical Reasons
- Learn a new skill. Stay up-to-date with a medium used in many
professions to distribute information.
- Sell your existing skills.
10 Ways to Avoid Being
Just Another Pretty HomePage
- Start with a story.
- Develop your own voice and point of view.
- Plan ahead.
- Familiarize yourself with principles of
good design.
- Be gentle to your reader.
- Play with layout to break up long pages of
text.
- Use images sparingly and wisely.
- Annotate suggested links with lots of
attitude.
- Remember to put your e-mail address on your
page!
- Avoid cobwebs. Update regularly.
10 Ways to Spread the Word About Your Home Page
- You will automatically be posted in SPRY Society.
- Send e-mail to family, friends and colleagues.
- Send e-mail to the webmasters at sites you've linked to and ask them to
link back to you.
- Automatically submit your URL to a variety of web directories via Submit It.
- Promote It!
The name says it all!
- City Live!
emphatically states that their directory is for individual home
pages only.
- Submit to Alta Vista,
one of the fastest search engines on the Web.
- Nominate yourself for a Top 5% award.
- Be bold. Submit to Cool Site
of the Day.
- Remember to visit these sites to make sure you've been posted.
