For my GEDI class requirement (and honestly, for my own edification), I am currently putting together an ePortfolio. And I have to say it is one of the more nervewracking things I have ever done–especially the home/welcome page. What to include? What to decidedly not include. I’m using VT’s WordPress development tools to turn this blog into said portfolio (if you’re reading this from a “motherblog,” feel free to go take a look).
These decisions of what to include, what not to include, how to phrase things, what colors to use (thank G-d for WordPress templates when you’re colorblind!) all seem incredibly important while you’re in the middle of it. And they are… to a point. But I’ve been getting pretty obsessive about this since I started yesterday.
After the semester is over, I do plan to move the site to my own domain name. With more and more opportunities to apply for jobs, fellowships, and teaching positions, I think it’s time to have something I can append to my email signature and put on my business cards. Of course, holly jordan dot com is already taken. In fact, it has been registered since 2000, so luckily I don’t feel too silly for not having done it sooner. I have been researching options and have found overwhelming advice against holly hyphen jordan dot com, with experts of different fields saying it’s too hard to disseminate. Other options include .net, .name, .me, .us… but of course, none of them have the branding power of a .com. Which always has bugged me, by the way. The .com suffix was supposed to be for commercial businesses.
So I have some decisions to make in the next couple weeks and months. If nothing else, hopefully I can convince myself to “unplug” as it will and stop tweaking things. I do have four other classes with homework to do this weekend…
I think your thoughts represent nicely what most people feel when it comes to publishing yourself on the internet. What’s nice though… PDePs (and blogs) allow us the opportunity to reflect upon ourselves and what we’re doing.