Website biography/statement ~ 1st or 3rd person?

[Box Brownie]

Hi all

I was wondering, when you see a Biog or Statement what do you prefer to read or indeed use yourself?

TIA for your responses and any posts with your thinking

PS my personal 'preference'(?) is 1st person as sometimes 3rd person seems odd or even a tad pretentious

 

[Overread]

It always seems wrong to me when you've a personal blog or "about" page on a personal website written in the 3rd person. It reads like someone else wrote the content about someone rather than the person writing about themselves. IT can make a personal blog/website appear less personal and more "I paid a company to make me a company profile so this might be all true or embelished"

 

[lindsay]

If it's a personal blog or website, I prefer first person, as I'm writing about myself - it's an autobiography not biography. However if it's for a company website I use third person as the company is more than just me, even if it's my little one-man consultancy as I reserve the right to subcontract, indeed I do do so sometimes and advertise my network of associates' availability to work for my clients. My photography website is not seeking commercial work or sales, but if it were, I';d definitely use first person because I'm selling myself and my interpretations.

 

[droj]

To write of yourself in the third person always seems fake to me, as if striking a pose that you are not yourself, which seems ridiculous. I mean come on, we know it's you ... ;-)

I've also noticed, over time, that the usage can quite often be inconsistent throughout a given web-site, which compounds the error.

 

[ancient_mariner]

Personal blog - 1st person.
Business site - 3rd person for the bio.

 

[Overread]

I think for business it depends - if its a one person business (possibly also named after you) then the 1st person is still applicable because you're building personal relations with your customers directly. There's no "team" or staff its just you (and maybe 1 assistant on odd jobs).

I think 3rd person works when its a proper sized company and then it would be "company does X Y Z" and here are our employees where you'd detail a little profile on each staffer (small firm) or a few select ones for a larger firm. 3rd person works then because its the company talking.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

I think both options are possible if done in a right way. Look up some higher profile competitor websites for some general inspiration

 

[harpistic]

Ah - I hadn’t realised, but on my sites, I use first person, and on all the other people’s sites I’ve created / written bios for, etc, third person. Huh.

 

[Benihana]

I think 3rd person on a personal site sounds pompous.