roundabout

my favourite things to look at on the internet are about pages. they aren't always called that, of course. sometimes it's something like 'who are we? well, let us tell you...' or 'what's all this then?' or 'mission statement' or something random. and sometimes it's not even a page but a little box or a pop-up, like coudal does at the top of their site, with a link to a longer explanation if you really, really want. I love them all (some, understandably, more than others). they answer all my prying, curious questions. some of course answer those questions directly (like this one, and this one, or this one), and some are a bit obscure (like this one). it doesn't really matter though, because whatever the about page says on it, it is addressed very plainly to me and my curiosity. well, and everyone else and their curiosity too.

these pages are the first thing I look for when I come across a new website. I eat them up. with all the insane stuff there is on the interenet these days, I feel like I just have to know a little tiny bit about why it's there. where it came from, who's behind it, how they got there, and just what they think they're doing.

about pages should be updated every once in a while, I think. things change, right? and more importantly, I get bored. when I visit your website for the thirtieth time, it might be silly of me to look at the about page again; I should know very well what you're about by that point. but weren't you listening? these things are my favourite. I'm weirdly drawn to them and their lovely secrets. okay, not secrets, answers. stories. biographical snippets. whatever you call them. on my thirtieth visit to your website, I very well may have new questions. different questions. and you may have different answers. maybe not, but just in case, you know? it seems those about pages can get written in the last-minute fumbling just before your website breathes its first breath, and then what? four or five years slip away and by that time are you even the same person? the same company? do you have the same readers? the same clients or friends or whoever?

and even if you are, and you do--don't you get bored?

maybe you're not like I am. this is the same instinct that gives me the urge to rearrange all the furniture in the house and put completely new pictures on the walls every two weeks. but even if you're not like I am, you don't want your visitors to get bored, do you?

I am aware that other than the ugly little default profile of me over there, this blog of mine has no real or proper about page. I shall have to fix this.