So far, I love this site. It appeals to me immensely because it's easy to use and very professional. I love the idea of being able to customize ads and pictures to my article topic. It all fits perfectly with my skill set.
For marketing purposes, because I am serious about making writing my new career, what is the best way to present yourself on your profile? To make a profile as if someone else is talking about you or as if you are personally writing it yourself?
I really like to interact with my readers, so it's important that I am accessible, yet some of these profiles sound really nice with the writers short bio's written as if by someone else.
I'd love to hear your feedback about this.
And I love this place!
I look forward to getting to know alot of you!
Thanks, I figured that, but I wanted to make sure, This will be fun "talking about myself"..lol..
I'm already thinking in that third person sense about myself but it's kind of wierd.
I loathe doing it. I don't know why...bios are one thing I absolutely can't stand. Maybe it's the weirdness of referring to myself by name. Hell, NO one uses my name. Not my husband...not my kids...NO one, so it feels strange to use it myself.
The advantage of using third person is that one can brag a lot more than when one writes in the first. It also looks more professional. I stick to first person as that's how my 'voice' is in most of my hubs.
In the profiles I prefer to use first person only because it has a more sincere feeling to it. If its written in the third person and your bragging etc. the reader will still know it was written by you, therefore why not come out straight from the start. If it needs to be said, say it. (my 2-3-4 cents worth.)zs
Yes that's the funny thing, it's like people have to know that you are the one writing it, so it's kind of an oxymoron ( I think that's the word I'm looking for!)
I wrote a third person review of my artwork one time when I had my first art show, and it was fun, but still wierd.
I must say, it never occurred to me to write my profile in the third person.
Of course, the profile on the dustjacket of a book or in the intro to a magazine is in the third person - that profile has been put there by a third party, the publisher of the book.
A HubPage profile is typed directly into the profile screen by the writer himself/herself, so personally I think it sounds a bit pretentious if third person is used - unless it is done for comic effect.
I always thought it was pretentious to write your own bio in third person, until my college professors pounded it into our heads that professional writers must have bios written in the third person.
When you send work out to publishers, you often send copies of your bio--and it must be in third person.
I hate writing mine. It feels weird. I have a couple already drafted out (different versions for different things), and only update them when I have to. Some people might not like reading third-person bios, but professionals expect it out of each other (and understand that it isn't someone walking around with their nose in the air).
All that said...I think HubPages is the kind of place where it can go either way and be acceptable. Mine is in third person only because I want to write professionally elsewhere, so I want consistency.
You keep more than one, too? I've got a 'scholarly' one and a more casual one and a few others.
Stacie,
I doubt that your college professors had hub pages in mind when they were swinging their hammers at your skull.
I believe that all such advice and teachings should be put through one's own filter of commonsense and context.
The Indigo Girls (who write some of the best lyrics EVER - on a par with Harry Chapin) sum it up beautifully in their song "Closer To Fine."
And I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a b-grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind
Got my paper and I was free
Hub pages (and other web 2.0 sites) are social places where people interact on a person to person basis.
Well, I got my paper, and I'm free. My bio is written in the first person, because it felt appropriate to do so.
I suppose...I never thought of it like that in this instance. Whenever I've been asked by an editor to provide a bio...they've wanted third person.
Always.
So that's just what I'm used to. Don't like it, but I'm used to it. Kinda like eating oatmeal. Don't like it much, but....
Isabella Snow manages this issue well in her profile. It is written in the third person, and it is entertaining. If I could do it like she did, I would go for the third person. But I always err on the side of safety...
Actually............(you know I love you Kenny! )
The first paragraph is in third, but almost everything else is in first. This was done intentionally, as it's meant to have a specific effect on the reader. (See last paragraph.) There actually is a certain method to it but it's not to be used for a professional bio, especially not those found on book covers (which, btw, the publisher is unlikely to have written themselves -- the author often does it and then its maybe edited) because those have to be entirely 3rd. Nor would you do this on a professional personal website; it would look amateur.
But when you're in an interactive community and you want people to interact with you, people need to think you're fully approachable (for the sake of comments and the like), which rarely occurs when reading something entirely in 3rd. Writing part of your bio in first also lets them hear your voice.
Mine is in 3rd at the start because the first thing I want to convey is that I am a professional writer, and 3rd is what a professional bio is written in. The rest is in first because first always draws people in more than 3rd, and I'm also inviting people to read my sex columns, dating columns, blog, see my video, etc -- and that gets better results when done in first person.
And... when they are done reading, most people will still think you wrote the whole thing in 3rd, but come away feeling like they would if you'd written it in first. Which would be the point. (But, again, you would never do this with a pro bio.)
Just chipping in to agree with others. When submitting work to any editorial panel, I'll always include a third person bio. The reason is that it will appear in the magazine as editorial, not as part of the article (or more often these days, the poem). The editor uses it to introduce his contributor to his readership, so it has to be third person.
Here on hubpages, we're self-publishing, so anything goes. I agree with Kenny that Isabella's is very nicely done. Mine is short and takes the form of a quotation and a direct message of thanks to anyone who reads me. So I suppose that evades the issue entirely!
Exactly. When you supply a bio to a publishing house or magazine, you're not writing your bio as yourself. You're writing it to save the editor the trouble! He wants it to sound like HE went to all the trouble of writing a blurb about you. That's why it must be in the third person.
I agree with the third person.
Mark has, in fact, just redone his bio to reflect his new position in the world and would appreciate any feedback on said bio.
Unless, like Kenny, you are writing your personal experiences and thoughts down. In which case, I suggest the first person.
Stacie has enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on this. When she has time next week, she will force herself to look at all of the different bio versions she has. They will remain third person - mostly - but she will see how she can put more of herself in them.
P.S. Isabella's crafted profile is a good example. Especially now that we know it was deliberate.
Mark, I'll have to check yours out.
Everybody's Jimmy now (George is getting upset).
Peter thinks Mark, Charlotte and Stacie are funny.
Just went and read all your profiles( including Dorsi, who started this thread). Some were first and some third person but all were amazing....what a great group of people with such a broad range of experience and interests. Hmmmmm maybe I better do a little work on my own now that I see how good a profile can be
Oops, Isabella, apologies for my unreliable memory. Went and reread your profile, and Lo! It is a masterly combo of the 1st and 3rd person. (Or persons?)
Seamlessly integrated.
Accept my apologies while I bask in your love.
No need to apologize (you were *supposed* to recall it as third!) but you may continue to bask.
Hehe, as many as you can tolerate in anothers.
lo!
I have not yet written mine.
How will it be if in 2nd person!!!
Funny?
John
Yes, third person is the standard. I have several, too. Short ones, long ones, and bios geared toward the magzine I am writing for, or the book I am promoting. They were hard at first, but now they are fun.
LOL, I remember one of my early ones:
Donna Campbell Smith lives with her Jack Russell Terrier and writes from her home in North Carolina.
In other words, she has no writing credits at all!!! Fortunately, my bios have more information in them now.
Steve also hates writing bios but is endeavoring to learn to love the process.
Following his reading of this forum, he now has no excuse.
I will also have to work out a smooth transition from 3rd to 1st!
Thanks for all of your contributions.
Cheers Steve
Well it's nice to see this thread revived- since posting this I have changed my profile to read third and first person, like Isabella did. I don't think it's pretentious ( although it was weird writing about myself like I'm "somebody"....lol...you know what I mean.)
I know I'm a "somebody" but it's just so weird tooting my own horn sometimes!
I've done the same as Isabella but without the logic for the split between 3rd and 1st person.
I begin with the legend and the myth of Rik Ravado in the 3rd person (I am too modest to admit to all my accomplishments). Then I slip naturally into the 1st person to share something of my humanity and to reassure the world that even I have feet of clay (fear of small children etc.)
As far as I'm concerned 1st or 3rd is fine, depending on the individual, but a mix of both is even better (as Isabella so ably demonstrates).
by healthmom 10 years ago
I've seen both, writing your profile bio in first and second person. First person: more friendly and accessible. Second person: more mysterious and accomplished. I'm debating. What do you all think?(Or doesn't matter, be worried about things like North Korea nukes, and...
by Jeremy Gill 6 years ago
Should First of Third Person be used for your profile?Strange as it is to talk about myself in third person, I've been considering switching my profile page to the format. Thoughts? Seems less personal, but perhaps more professional.
by Wayne Tully 15 years ago
I am having one of them moments when I just feel the need to update my profile page and right now I want it to read better than it already does, Are there any tips from someone who knows a bit more about writing a good full page profile about yourself that details your abilities and which also acts...
by Eric Farmer 6 years ago
This question is something I was thinking about recently, and I figured I would ask to see what others think. I noticed some people wrote their profiles in third person. Is doing this recommended? I know HubPages recommends the author biographies be written in third person, but I am unsure about...
by Dorsi Diaz 13 years ago
I have been on this one conspiracy site informally for over 5 years. I usually go there to get the latest news before the MSM does (I'm a news hound)So I am about to take the plunge and sign up for formal membership there and I am thinking about using my first name like I do here at HubPages along...
by LearnFromMe 12 years ago
I have noticed in the past few days while Hub Hopping and scanning my feed that there are a plethora of new hubs and hubbers joining the site and publishing low quality or poorly translated/spun hubs. When I click on the profile after flagging the hubs, I notice that there is no information about...
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