The Philosophers' Cocoon

A safe and supportive forum for philosophers.

Owned & Moderated by Marcus Arvan (University of Tampa)

Contact: marvan@ut.edu

Blog mission & moderation policy

IMPORTANT NOTE on how to ensure anonymity in commenting
Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
Job-Market Discussion Thread (2025-26)

recent posts

about

Is it important to have a personal website?

In our newest “how can we help you?” thread, a reader asks:

I was wondering whether people would recommend having a personal academic website, perhaps using something like Google Sites or WordPress, or whether it is enough just to have a PhilPeople page.

I’m currently a PhD student, and I’ve noticed that quite a lot of professors have their own websites, but quite a lot do not, so I’m not really sure whether having one is necessary. My main concern is whether it would make a meaningful difference on the job market after graduation. Do people think having a personal website is important, or is PhilPeople enough?

What do readers think?

Posted in

5 responses to “Is it important to have a personal website?”

  1. Anonymous

    I have one because someone on my panel said I should have one. I imagine that there are some benefits: you get to control your image a bit, and if things are clear enough, it can cast a positive light on you.

    When browsing other people’s website, I particularly appreciate the part where people give a description of their research, and some break downs on individual projects. Sometimes there are also projects or drafts that can be shared on request. PhilPaper, on the other hand, doesn’t make the “oh I also work on this, even if I haven’t yet published anything on the topic yet” clear enough.

    Reply
  2. Michel

    I think that, at a minimum, you should have a PhilPeople (/papers/events) profile. But yes, I think having a website is important. For you, it matters most for the years leading up to and when you’re on the market, when people will be trying to find out who you are, what you do, your contact info, etc. Having all that information centralized on a personal website makes it easy to find, and helps give you a bit more exposure. Ultimately, however, I think that the main benefits are for other people, who can use it to both learn about you, and about various norms in the field.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous

    Once you are about to be on the market is is strongly advisable, yes.

    Reply
  4. Anonymous

    It can also be helpful if you do have a safe job and your department webpage is not all that informative. I have one so that my research, CV and upcoming talks etc., can be easily located.

    Reply
  5. Charles Pigden

    I have a page on Academia.edu which I periodically update. I get a lot of ‘views’ and ‘reads’ a fair number of downloads and it probably does me a fair bit of good when it comes to spreading the word. My departmental webpage is also fairly informative. Would I do better with my own personal website? Perhaps, but at this late stage in my career it is not worth making the effort. I suspect that the right question for the OP to ask themself is this: As things stand would it be easy – a matter of a few clicks – for somebody who had come across your name to find out about you and your work (interests, previous publications, current projects and perhaps a little bit about you as a human being)? If not, then you had better do something about it, though whether this means a personal website or a page on Researchgate or Academia.edu is hard to say.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Discover more from The Philosophers' Cocoon

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading