I discovered a trend lately: many designers or developers who maintain a web presence use the same tone and diction. It’s this relaxed but competent, casually professional, slightly ironic persona; not authentic in any real sense, but somehow artisanal. I would guess 2004 is when I first became aware of this shift.

I’m not saying anything negative about this. Last night I browsed through some notable personal/portfolio websites, and I present to you, the smorgasbord of greetings on the web.

Let me know if you have something I should add to the list.

Hello

• Hull, U.K - Harry Copeman

• Nottingham, U.K - Seth Warburton

• London, England - wearegoat

• London, England - Deep

• Bangalore, India - Jithin Velayudhan

• Moscow, Russia - Made by Vadim

• Sydney, Australia - Steve Chan

• Wisconsin, U.S - Andrew Verboncouer

• San Francisco, CA - Nic Stauber

• San Francisco, CA - Rob Young

• Lyon, France - Akaru

Hello There!

• New York City, NY - Mili Kuo

Hallo!

• Switzerland - Roland Dill

Hey There!

• Cedar Rapids, IA - Will Lenzen Jr.

• New York, NY - Sue Lee

Hello. Bonjour.

• New York, NY - AREA 17

Hi There!

• Bangkok, Thailand - buatoom

• Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Cristiana Bardeanu

Hi!

• Plymouth, U.K - Lizzie Seymour

• Toronto, Canada - Heather Payne

Howdy.

• Mumbai, India- Arun Pattnaik

• Columbus, Ohio - Steve Zeidner

• Brooklyn, NY - Jeff Rogers

• Austin, TX - Jonathan Simmons

• Somewhere in Utah - Kyle Wayne Benson

Nice to Meet You

• Los Angeles, CA - Rafe Goldberg

Well, Hello.

• Philadelphia, PA - Zoe Rooney

Bonjour!

• Point Park, PA - Ligaya Scaff

Hola

• Spain (I think) - miguelcm

Ciao

• Italy - Simone Guglielmini

• Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Anouck Steenken

Ahoy!

• Londrina e Região, Brasil - Lucas Perdidão

Welcome

• Santa Monica, CA - Nikki Galvan

In the gluten-free words of modern web developers, thanks for stopping by (Piper Lawson). This entry was steam-pumped…and kept alive with tea and hugs, (Simon Collison) and made in the USA (Charlie Waite).