The entire team here at about.me is very excited for what is coming in the coming weeks. In case you missed it, co-founder Tony Conrad wrote up his thoughts on the future in a post titled “Next”. Here is my favorite passage:

“You are not the sum of your Tweets, you are not solely defined by your professional experiences/ accomplishments, and you’re most definitely not defined by your social graph. These are all important facets of our identity but none should be given the lead role of defining us.”

We have spent hours looking forward into the future, designing improvements and new features. At a time like this, with palpable sense of anticipation regarding what comes next, it’s healthy to take a look backwards too. Throwback thursday is a perfect excuse to contemplate how much we’ve accomplished. 

For the uninitiated: throwback thursday is a weekly social media trend also represented as #tbt. Particularly popular on Instagram, people add the #tbt hashtag is to images from years past and post them on a Thursday.

Here on the blog, #tbt is best used to look back at how we were first seen in the media. In this article from TechCrunch, Michael Arrington explains his perception of about.me (from almost exactly three years ago!). Since then, the social web has changed and about.me has evolved, but our core mission has always been the same. Arrington wrote:

“The company is still in stealth, but they’ve given out a few beta accounts to friends and advisors, they say. Part of the product is a personal profile page that points people to your content around the Internet, allowing you to pull all this information together to build a single online identity.”

Emphasis added to point out the consistency of about.me’s vision. About.me was, is, and will continue to be the place on the web to simplify your online identity. In the future, we will add more services and continue to refine and redefine the best method to present yourself online. But the guiding vision behind about.me and the movement that created it will remain constant: control the starting point of your online identity.

The awesome thing is that when other people can present their identity clearly online, it simplifies how you discover and connect with the right people. The people who share your interests, profession, lifestyle, or hometown. As the social web matures, we have to be deliberate about presenting ourselves clearly in order to cut through spam and noise found everywhere else on the web. Taking ownership of your online identity is the place to start.

The team at about.me has been working extremely hard, and we’re getting ready to announce what we’ve been working on.

We know you’ll like it, and can’t wait to share!