Personal Email Domain - Worth It?

[Sammy]

I've been on the fence about getting my own email domain. I'm just not sure if it's worth it or not? I've read a lot online about creating your online presence and digital brand, and that having your personal email address may add to that.

 

What do you guys think?

[CraigD]

I think that having email addresses are somewhat like paper mail addresses – they suggest whether the addressee is a private individual, or a representative of a business or institution.

 

If you a representative of an enterprise that has an internet domain name, it’s sensible and helpful for you to use that DN in your email address. If you are representing yourself as a private individual, I think it’s best to use a public domain, such as gmail.com.

 

Using a personal email domain when you don’t own the homepage of that domain can harm your reputation. When I see an email address with an unfamiliar DN, I often visit that domain with a web browser, to see something about the enterprise the addressee seems to be representing. If the homepage is a generic “your URL here” page, I’m inclined to believe the addressee is being deceptive, trying to give the impression of representing an enterprise when they are really representing only themself.

 

So I recommend not getting a personal email domain until you are ready to maintain a website at that domain. Even if you have a website, there are time still when it’s better to use a email address at a public domain.

 

On a related sidenote, I wish the various nations that include in their constitutions a state power (and thus, implicitly, an obligation) to provide paper mail service had, when the internet was young, had provided truly public email domains (and also proof-of-identity services), but that didn’t happen. This Bloomberg.com article explores some of the history and reasons why.

[Sammy]

Hi Craig,

 

Thanks very much for your informative response! I just recently set up my own WordPress fueled site for my editorial content on environmental science. Going forward, I wanted to create a brand for myself to make things a bit more consistent.

 

So I think you just answered my question for me - yes, it is a good idea to get my own DN in my email address!

This article had plenty of reasons to set up my own DN too and also heped me come to this conclusion.

 

 Also, thank you for the Bloomberg article, I'll save this to have with my cup of tea in the morning!

 

-S

[sanctus]

If the reason was only to not share your data then it is pointless (as long as you have any contact on gmail, yahoo, etc.) since then they get your data anyway. But it seems to me that this is not your prime incentive.

[fahrquad]

I have one business e-mail account on the company domain for official correspondence, and 6 anonymous personal e-mails accounts for when I might say something others might find offensive, or I need to inquire about something and don't want to be bothered by spam (i.e. as when I was shopping on-line for a new car for the wife and just wanted the price, and not daily offers on assorted vehicles I was not interested in)(for those accounts I can just mark the spam as Junk).

[fahrquad]

I should add that none of my 6 personal e-mail accounts lead to any information tied to my real identity.