Between finals and the inevitable internship, alongside domestic issues. It has truly been a time of my life.
One course that I am fortunate enough not to have a final in is COMM-296 “Brand You”, which is a course dedicated on personal branding and improving your image for the world to see.
In lieu of a final, my professor assigned for us to create our own website, which has since become a brand hub because… reasons.
As it is an experimental class, my professor spent 15 minutes inquiring about the assignment and how it could be made different. Many of my peers raised the proposition that a website is useless for them, as not everyone can be good at web design. Which is an entirely fair and valid reason. However, the alternative was to create and post to profiles on pre-existing platforms and amplify them to serve as their brand hub. Say: Using Instagram to promote one’s photography work.
While I understand their noble intention, I believe you are not owning your brand by going this way. It is similar to being a farmer on leased land, if you will. You can be competing with a bunch of other farmers on the same land who, sure, might have different offerings, you’re still on the same plot of land — and the owner can hypothetically evict you with no warning or notice.
Creating a TikTok profile and YouTube channel can help amplify your brand and expose you to more people. I’m not denying that. But going that route entirely instead of having your own completely-controlled area is not the way to go about it.
Even LinkedIn, where you can control your professional appearance and broadcast it to millions, is not immune. You are still just a (possibly paying) customer.
Sure, Gen-Z might still be addicted to TikTok, but you don’t own TikTok. That’s ByteDance’s job. You might post your music to Apple Music, but you don’t own Apple Music. With a website, you own it.
That’s not even mentioning the total customizability. There is no right way to make a website, there are literally infinite possibilities that you can put on the web.
So, don’t say “oh, i don’t need a website, i need a tiktok profile that might show up in your fyp!” Because I guarantee you, having some sort of website owned by you will likely last much longer than whatever the current fad is on social media.
-z.a.
p.s. If you need help creating a website and you mention that you read this post. I’ll give the Family/Friends Discount.