About Me Pages -
I recently readtrakemarkhell's writing on about me pages. It got my gears turning. I want to preface by saying that I don't hate this writing, I really enjoyed reading it. I am a user of an about me page on a personal site, yes. In the future I may remove my about section. I am not opposed to it.
I think part of the reason you find about me pages to be so common is that it is easy content. Anybody can write a whole page about things they enjoy. People love talking about themselves. When I joined, it was tough (and still is tough) to figure out just exactly what my site will be. It feels nice to have a page with content. My site is certainly nowhere near complete. Take out my about page and it's practically empty.
I want to talk about Trakemarkhell's third and fourth paragraphs. Presenting youself in a positive light is something most people want to do. Nobody wants to be disliked, but "To be disliked by some is to be an individual." (great line, trakemarkhell) You can't sterilize your existence and keep your individuality. You may appeal to a vast majority of people, but as a tradeoff you'll start to blend in and lose what makes you you.
I've been to far too many sites where they'll say, "I'm this and this, don't say this around me, don't make jokes like this." Stop sheltering yourself from things you find offensive. You will never be able to have an existence where everybody agrees with everything you think. It's scary to be around different opinions. It's uncomfortable. There's always going to be that one guy who goes out of their way to ruin your day. That is not how everyone with different opinions operates. I think nekoweb should be a fun, friendly experience and I don't want to ruin that for anyone.
Trademarkhell wrote, "Don't hide behind about me sections, or anything else, just present yourself as you are." I think this is a good message, but there's a negative side to it. There's such a problem with online disinhibition. I omit things about myself which many would dislike. This does not necessarily relate to a fear of being disliked. Some stuff just doesn't need to be said. People are too comfortable sharing anything and everything online.
If you come to my site, you are not going to offend me. You are not going to hurt my feelings if you don't like it. Tell me you hate my backgrounds. You can dislike me and that's okay.