About 20 years ago almost nobody had a website, let alone a personal web portfolio of his or her work, but with WordPress and Squarespace came the era of portfolio Websites. While having one is much cheaper now than it was years ago, we now have Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and of course Facebook that are “completely free”, so the real question is, do we still need personal websites for our art?

Like with everything, there are pros and cons, but without going into technicalities, do people actually still visit websites? The majority might browse the web, but we do so mostly without even opening our browser; if I want to look at other artist’s work while on my daily commute, I won’t open Google or Duck Duck Go and search for “Fine Artist” on my phone but will go on Instagram or Pinterest and hit the Explore page. If I want to hear the news, I’ll go to Facebook and check the profiles of the few trustworthy independent reporters I befriended or go on Medium and see what’s happening around the world.

Now, I’m not saying nobody visits websites on their phones, but I’m sure the majority of people interested in visual art use the popular apps that provide a haven for creators like you and me. So why then would anyone pay the high amounts of cash to get someone to create a web portfolio for their work that probably no-one will ever see? The prices for beautiful personal websites can be over 500 € or even 1000 € if you don’t use Squarespace or are tach-savvy and know your way around WordPress, and that’s not covering hosting and domain name purchases (depending on your provider, about 50-100€ a year or more).

Well, there are good reasons to still have a page. I do for example, because any formal open call application made by my government still demands a webpage and awards quite a few points if the page is well made, because it gives the committee the impression that I am a professional rather than making me look like a brat wanting some free cash to pay for his Instagram Promotions. But this is more or less limited to such official applications, where the people in charge do not see social media like Pinterest as a professional portfolio medium.

If for example you apply to an artist-lead gallery, the chances of them being absolutely fine seeing only your instagram feed and even appreciating the 10k active follower-base you built up over the years are incomparably higher than when talking with a government officer about funding. In most formal places a website is the default expected way of presenting your work with only a few exceptions.

Though surely time will tell if and when personal websites become obsolete, you get the added bonus of having your own email address like info@yourname.com and a 24/7 accessible public space to do with and show what you please without the fear that someday one of the social media moguls will change their policy or just block your account for no real reason and your 100k follower base might just get decimated because of it. And the worst part is that you will have almost no chance to win an appeal if they say your posts or profile go against their community standards. It’s like David versus Goliath, but this time Goliath is in a tank.