Website Bio - first or third person

[Matt5791]

Simple question - on a website biography, is it best to writ in the first or the third person - which sounds best?

Thanks

Matt

 

[Dave Miller]

The use of the third person is both remote, and pretentious; or maybe just plain lazy if you really do get someone else to write it for you.

 

[Matt5791]

The use of the third person is both remote, and pretentious; or maybe just plain lazy if you really do get someone else to write it for you.

Yes - I was kind of siding with that opinion.

Matt

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

If somebody else writes the bio, then it sounds fine, as long as they are identified. If you write it yourself in the third person, then as Dave says, it's pretentious.

 

[David R Munson]

Write as you are in life. If you refer to yourself in the third person in normal conversation, go ahead and write your bio accordingly. Otherwise, first person is the way to go.

 

[AgX]

Is it about you or him...?

 

[mark]

My boss refers to himself in the third person ALL the time. Talk about freaking annoying. If you have someone write it for you have them put their name at the bottom so the reader knows it is not you referring to yourself in the third person. If you write it, write like you are talking. Use personal pronouns.

 

[David H. Bebbington]

The use of the third person is both remote, and pretentious; or maybe just plain lazy if you really do get someone else to write it for you.

With specific reference to a website, which is a personal presentation of you by you, I would write in the first person. When writing press releases, etc., you will find it a real advantage to write in a way which journalists can lift wholesale and print without editing, which means writing in the 3rd person. This may appear remote, pretentious or lazy to an amateur but is normal professional practice (as is getting someone else to write text if you don't feel confident about this - not all artists are articulate). In the higher realms of academe, of course, it has long been considered correct to write in the third person ("It appears to the present writer ...", etc.) and unspeakably vulgar to write in the first person (or for that matter, to sign with your full name instead of initials).

 

[Dan Henderson]

I am so glad to read these responses. I'm working on my web site right now, and when working on a page describing myself and my approach to photography, I decided to write in the first person, from me to anyone who reads my words.

Dan Henderson just can't take himself seriously enough to refer to him in the third person. My work I take very seriously, myself, no.

 

[catem]

You could always use the Royal 'We' or 'One'....

 

[catem]

Seriously...I'm re-designing my website aswell at the moment and will go for the first person singular - more intimate.

 

[removed account4]

you can write it anyway you want.
there is no right or wrong answer.
... as long as you are consistant.

is your resume written in 1st or 3rd person?
its kind of the same thing ...

 

[tim rudman]

Hmm. just a few people who disagree with you Dave ;-)

http://www.alanrossphotography.com/ar20/bio.html
http://billschwab.com/schwabio.html
Dead Link Removed
http://www.johnsexton.com/jsbio.html
http://www.johnwimberleyphotography.com/
http://www.keithcarterphotographs.com/biography.html
http://www.paulkozal.com/bio.html
Dead Link Removed

Tim

 

[SuzanneR]

I think either way is fine, but if you use the first person it's best to keep the "eyes" and the "me's" to a minimum. Too many, and it starts to sound a little boastful to my ears.

Just 2 cents, YMMV, of course.

 

[catem]

I agree that there's no 'right' answer, and it's a personal decision. It depends what you feel most comfortable with. How it's written, and what you want to say, are the most important things.
I would personally find writing in the third person a bit strange, partly because it's not something I do anywhere else.
Maybe it would be a good idea to do two versions, and see which sits best with the style of your website, and what it is that you want to put across. The first person is more immediate and personal, the third more descriptive and distant - either works in different ways.

 

[Ian Grant]

I think both ways are right but very dependent on where they are going to be used.

Matt is asking about the bio on his website, that's fine either way but more friendly if in the first person. However if the bio was going to be sent to a magazine, gallery, publication then they require it to be in the third person, they won't want to have to rewrite it.

So Tim Rudmans links show how a good professional bio should be written, but it's down to each individual how they want to come across on their website.

Ian

 

[Dave Miller]

Hmm. just a few people who disagree with you Dave ;-)

http://www.alanrossphotography.com/ar20/bio.html
http://billschwab.com/schwabio.html
Dead Link Removed
http://www.johnsexton.com/jsbio.html
http://www.johnwimberleyphotography.com/
http://www.keithcarterphotographs.com/biography.html
http://www.paulkozal.com/bio.html
Dead Link Removed

Tim

It would be a terrible dull world if everyone agreed with me Tim, however I was asked, and I answered, and see no reason yet to change my mind. I said I felt it pretentious because it attemps to give the impression that the subject is important enough to be worth writing about. Rarely is that the case, certainly not in the examples that you quote.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

In the higher realms of academe, of course, it has long been considered correct to write in the third person ("It appears to the present writer ...", etc.) and unspeakably vulgar to write in the first person (or for that matter, to sign with your full name instead of initials).

This still is the case in the sciences, but in the humanities it sounds rather old fashioned. As long as one doesn't use the first person when it isn't really needed, it's fairly well accepted these days to use the first person when relating a personal anecdote that is relevant to the general argument, for instance, or when distinguishing one's own position from someone else's.

 

[catem]

Either can come across as egotistical or pretentious, depending how written.
The greatest danger with the third person though is that you come over as disassociated - and therefore in some way untrustworthy! (Hey, that's you you're talking about, stop pretending....).
I think if you want to say anything that you want to come over at all personal, or direct, don't use the third. (If you use the third, keep it brief and very practical).

 

[RobertP]

It can actually be done using both.

 

[David H. Bebbington]

Hmm. just a few people who disagree with you Dave ;-)

http://www.alanrossphotography.com/ar20/bio.html
http://billschwab.com/schwabio.html
Dead Link Removed
http://www.johnsexton.com/jsbio.html
http://www.johnwimberleyphotography.com/
http://www.keithcarterphotographs.com/biography.html
http://www.paulkozal.com/bio.html
Dead Link Removed

Tim

They are no doubt working on the "ready-to-lift copy" principle. I (and probably others) have found that if you write in the 1st person, a journalist will stlll lift your copy but will place it in quotation marks, frequently butchering your meaning in the process and turning your bio into an interview-that-never-was!

 

[Ian Grant]

David, an ideal Bio would be written in the third person and include 1st person quotes. This is standard practice with press releases etc where you want minimum butchering by the publication etc. As soon as a third party edits errors creep in.

Ian

 

[Dave Miller]

The post asked the question in relation to a website biography.
This is a personal one to one document, albeit an electronic one. There is no one else involved, just the two of you; the poster and the viewer. Now imagine the same as a conversation, face to face; because that’s what it is; how does it now sound? Totally, utterly mind blowingly laughably pretentious that’s how.

 

[Sparky]

agreed, dave. Though I did my own in the first person and i think it reads pretty ridiculously! But then again - I'm not too comfortable talking about myself especially while trying to impress others...!!!



I'd love to learn a good way to deal with this - perhaps it's best dealt with 'neutrally' somehow - i.e. have some sort of structured list of accomplishments or something...

 

[RobertP]

I don't understand how it can be considered a personal one on one document. Once published it becomes public domain which is naturally viewed by the masses. I think written in the third preson with first person quotes is perfectly acceptable and somewhat more presentable. But that's just MHO.