how do you describe yourself on your website?

[thecatscanvas]

I've recently re-re-redone my website, since I've finally begun to upload my art and use it. I plan to let my art speak for itself for the most part, but I still feel the need to write a bit on my home page to explain what my website and art is about. But that's kind of the problem.

I'm not really sure what to write. I've always had trouble with writing bios for myself, because I'm not really sure what people want to know or what is relevant. I have tried a few times to write lists of things (i.e. name, pronouns, some of my identity, and some of what I like to draw) but I'm never happy with it. I was putting this bit off, but now that I'm beginning to display my work, I need to get around to it.

How do you describe yourself on your website? If you are an artist, have you written about that? 

Here is a link to my website if anyone would like a look: https://thecatscanvas.neocities.org/home

[Resinous Stump]

I have a few web sites and I tailor what I say about myself to that web site. I don't think there is any approach I could take that would be equally well-suited to all my web sites. In some cases I may want to promote a project and so I will say how long I have been working on it and reference any media appearances or similar credential type things, just to sort of establish legitimacy/credibility. For other projects, hobby stuff I am passionate about, I will try to give a little more personal background- how I came to the hobby, some of my feelings about it. I will often state the US state I was born in and the year in which I was born, I think these are fundamental aspects of identity that help a reader know something about who I am.

[Skykristal]

This is something I struggled with for the longest time (still do, to an extent; I'm super dry and short on a lot of sites where you can write a bio or introduction, for example). But always circle around my primary interest, in text form at least. For example on my own site's about me, I introduce myself as an artist & what I do/like in a bit of detail, that has always been what my website is about so it made the most sense. But because I don't only do one thing, I still sprinkle other things around about what I'm into so people know who I am.

I don't overshare. I leave out pretty much any personal information (something I see frequently done on other sites) bc nobody needs to know that. My site is about what I create, not an application or dating page lol

[Dequake]

It's a good question. Personally, I've always erred on the side of too little rather than too much. For the site that I'm currently managing I don't even have an about me page, I don't think it's needed. I just let my content speak for itself. It's really up to personal preference I think. No site truly needs to contain any information about the author at all really. I don't know how helpful that is, but the way I see it an about me page is just as creative an endeavour as anything else on your site, and should reflect your personality not just in the words written but the way you write them, just like the rest of your site. Are you chaotic? Are you orderly? Wacky or grey? Maximalist or minimalist? Do you like to stay anonymous?

As for content, I like to stay short and to the point. Here's the deal, here's what I do, how I do it, where to find more. The rest is up to the reader to find. I mean really, what would the reader be more interested in? Diving into the content, or reading a paragraph of exposition describing the content?

Looking at your site I am immediately assaulted by your asthetic! That edgy crust-punk post-queer furryism vibe hits you right away. Use that! Maybe you're a little on the edge? Maybe you use an alias? Get creative! Maybe have your readers asking some questions...who is this person? This strange enigma... It's dealer's choice at the end of the day.

To answer that last question of yours, it has really fluctuated from thing to thing. There was a time that I included as much information as possible. Now, as I described already, I'd rather stay mostly hidden. I have my alias, and that's all I really need. My work really doesn't demand an identity anyways, and so I can use that to my advantage, and comfort. Not that I'm paranoid about it. My face is easy to find if you go through my site, and I'm not really worried about it. The kind of work I do on my site also isn't the kind of stuff that really draws people in, and that's fine. I don't need to phish people to pay attention to me. If someone's interested, they'll look. I trust that they will.

Anyways, good luck! There's no wrong answer, just personal preference. And a creator is always their own worst critic. From an outside viewpoint I'd wager most choices seem mostly equally valid, so don't stress it too much.

[Dan Q]

Here's mine. For a decade or so I wrote it in the third person because I thought it seemed more "professional", but I hated it and I fixed that earlier this year, putting it back in the first person like it always had been before that.

My thinking when writing mine was to:

• Introduce myself: name and pronouns
• Expand with brief context: this could have been interests, or work, or (blogging) focus, or philosophy, but many of those things are touched on later so I mentioned location and relationships
• How you might know me: I don't know how people "come to" my site or that page, but in order to try to preemptively answer the question "and I know you from where...?" I share some of the things I've been involved with, and by side-effect my passion for volunteering
• Some interests: to help paint a better picture of me, I list some of my interests
• Lots of links: I wanted this page to feel like part of a much bigger web, so I've got lots of external and internal links in there; I'd like to add more!

[rhyswynne]

I like the idea of tailoring it to a few sites - my about page contains things that I'm comfortable sharing, mainly about who I am, what I like, and how best to speak to me. I like Dan's idea of how you may have heard of me, which I'm going to implement. I'm looking to change my About Page in the near future (the "Games" section is really it's own section).

[Cele]

I was just working on this yesterday. Because my website is focused on religion, my about will be largely about that... so you can imagine someone's gonna be pissed by it eventually. Even when I try to put in disclaimers about you know, I don't mean this as an attack towards anyone and so on... Someone will certainly take it that way! Since it's already been done to me on Neocities before. I'm just waiting for the day when someone's going to attack me because it always eventually happens. Because of this, I also don't want to reveal much about myself. As fun as things like buttons and stamps are, my hoarding days are over too because they can also sometimes reveal just way too much about me for my comfort.

[MrsMoe]

Writing about myself in introductions has always been a massive struggle for me too, mostly because I often struggle to describe myself in a positive light. Even when describing some basic things about myself, I feel like I have to water them down somewhat (like calling myself a "wannabe" goth girl or pointing out my website is amateurish). I think I just have an extreme aversion to sound like I'm boasting or seeming proud of my own mediocrity, and I often feel uncomfortable assigning positive traits to myself. Stuff like that should be up to everyone else imo, and not for me to decide.

On a more positive note, what I do try to focus on are my interest. My tastes, favorite things and whatnot. I think it's easy for people to conjure up a solid image of you based on what you like or associate yourself with. But other than that, I tried to focus on my reason for making the site in the first place. Like, my frustrations with social media and the current state of the internet. It felt relevant and an easy way to connect myself with the rest of the Neocities userbase.

[ValyceNegative]

I agree with the rest of the posts stating that an "About Me" page changes depending on what the site is dedicated to. My mainsite is an art gallery as well, so my introduction mainly states what I do and what did I do to get to this point: I state where I come from, what were my studies, what are my artistic influences, how my drawing career started, how it's doing now and what are my current projects.
I could surely stylize all this in an ordered list but I instead opted for a short paragraph: it's simple and doesn't overshare (I got blog posts for that!) but at the same time gives a good idea of why I draw what I draw, and that's what's most important.

In the subsequent years I found myself copying a slightly more condensed version of that paragraph into intro threads of various projects I take part to, so at some point it's really become my virtual business card.