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I’ve always been protective of my kids when it comes to their online identity and digital footprint but you might have noticed that Little Miss Techie recently decided to reveal herself to the world as her true self— Emily. When I first started blogging almost 7 years ago, I had a preschooler and a toddler. I wasn’t sure that I wanted their whole lives to unfold via my blog and later through social media so I made the very conscious decision to protect their real identities by referring to them as Little Miss Techie and Captain Computer, their online pseudonyms.
Now my preschooler is all grown up. This January Emily will turn 11 and her decision to share her real name is one that came after much consideration. She’s always been thoughtful but the opportunity to come out from hiding behind Little Miss Techie was one she didn’t take lightly. Emily decided she wanted to attach her real name to her efforts as a passionate fundraiser who sells her ribbon barrettes to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the co-founder of RibbonBarrettes.com.
Despite my tech savvy nature, I didn’t reserve Facebook profiles, Instagram accounts, and Twitter profiles or bought domain names reflecting my kids’ names like I knew other parents did as their kids were born. Perhaps I should have but I knew my kids couldn’t remain anonymous. I felt that by tagging, uploading photos, and sharing on their behalf seemed like a violation of their identities in the digital sense even at the youngest ages.
But now we’re at a crossroads. Emily is certainly old enough to understand the benefits and drawbacks to sharing in the online space. She’s already dabbled in blogging and vlogging as a budding blogger who writes as often as she can at BalsamicCamel.com and a star reviewer for KidzVuz.com. She’s been fairly anonymous in both places but I wonder if it’s time for her to have a personalized domain name that is her true identity.
As a parent, I can understand the benefit for her having a dedicated domain that is her name. Just like my site serves as my online portfolio of my writing, her site could serve the same purpose. It could showcase her writing, the many places she’s already been featured for her great work raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and be her little piece of the internet.
I’ve pondered getting her a domain of her own. These days there are so many to domain extensions to choose from that I wouldn’t have to get her a .com. Once dot.com sites used to be the gold standard but not anymore. .Com is so corporate and reminiscent of the tech boom that it doesn’t seem like the best fit for my daughter and her personality. Instead I might get her a Domain.ME URL.
A .Me seems like a far more hip, personal, and a better means of expressing herself with a unique URL. I love the creative ways companies have used Me URLs to create interesting ways of branding themselves. Some of my favorites include Despicable.Me and Ti.me (Time). Plus along with a unique and memorable name, a Me Website comes with some nice perks like:
- Being featured on the .Me blog and social media channels
- Inclusion of .me in the URL instead of bit.ly whenever you use bit.ly as a link shortener
Of course I know that Emily will have her own ideas about what she might want to call her Domain.Me URL and when she’s ready, I know that her .Me will be true to her and the way she wants to present herself online.
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how the results for this giveaway?