Is the convenience of the modern web crippling our understanding of it? Jim Groom and Tim Owens of Reclaim Hosting believe that it may be. In an era of Tumblr, Twitter and other easy to use micro-blogging tools, many students have no idea of the inner workings of a website. The aim of Reclaim Hosting is to provide a place to not only create their digital identity but control its future. Many people rely on hosted sites to create a digital footprint. Think of all the hard work and maintenance it takes to create a positive identity on Facebook and Twitter. Although unlikely, those sites could disappear at any time destroying millions of online identities in the process. Creating your own domain alleviates that risk but can be expensive which is where Reclaim Hosting comes in.
The project will provide free hosting for interested students and will assist universities and their students to create their own hosted websites provides the opportunity to play around with coding and web designed without the prepackaged themes that user are required to use. Reclaim Hosting isn’t asking its users to code from scratch instead, it hopes that students will take advantage of open source software like WordPress.
Interested in setting up your own domain name? The pilot program is set to begin on August 15th. Need more convincing before you jump into the world of domain ownership? Read this Wired blog post about the University of Mary Washington and the ideas behind the birth of the project . Remember the URL is key to a successful digital portfolio (DTLINK). Having your own domain shows future employers that you have the technical savvy to match your robust resume.
Some examples of UBC students who have created a “domain of their own” includes Ivan Yastrebov, who created his own domain to show off his photography at www.ivanyastrebov.com. Another example of an excellent student created domain name is www.ahmadrezafarsaei.com. Which is created by PhD student Ahmadreza Fa to showcase his tutorials, resume and published works. Both of these websites future their creators digital identity by promoting their personal brand. By using their full names as their website domain, they can create and control the first thing future employers see when they Google their name.
Would you create your own domain name? What are the benefits of of creating your own domain instead of using hosting tools? Disadvantages?
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