About 10 years ago I wasn’t fully aware of the domain world around me; I felt like a blind mole sniffing the cold air of opportunity at night. There was little, if any, education about what tools to use other than the rudimentary WHOIS at Network Solutions. To this day, I recall battling boredom by looking up domain names and confirming their availability, only to find them registered two weeks later. It’s no secret that Network Solutions spied on your WHOIS queries through their web based interface.
Today, it seems that there is an abundance of information and tools that allow domainers to perform real-time research. The rules of the game have changed many times over; the social integration of domaining has given information access to even the most remote countries in the world. There are also several events and conferences that are held – some of them several times a year – which bring more opportunities in domaining and development to their attending entrepreneurs.
During these ten full years, I’ve come across several different types of domain individuals; the domainer community is as diverse as the human race itself. For the sake of informative amusement, I’ve put together a few representative “profiles” that you might find interesting; some of you might even recognize others – or even, yourselves 😀
The Domain Gods
Domain gods are usually quiet entrepreneurs that do not go public, don’t socialize with lowly domain “mortals” and rarely unveil an insight into their achievements. Usually, they end up selling large portfolios for ungodly figures; the mainstream media view these achievements as a sign of general entrepreneurship; to them, “domaining” is still a dirty word.
The Domain Socialites
Domain socialites are charismatic individuals that participate in public forums and events, contributing their time and knowledge with a charming pinch of spice; often humor is their elegant way to delivering their beliefs and strategies to those that otherwise are difficult to educate.
The Domain Poseurs
Domain poseurs come in two sub-species: the snotty achievers and the fake underachievers. Those of the latter kind have nothing positive to show in terms of achievement; they promote and push a fake persona, never able to deliver any proof, any portfolio evidence or any records of success. It’s all in their head. Those of the former kind are one-hit wonders, who cashed on a big opportunity, only to turn snotty and nasty towards the domain community. They often re-iterate their single-win laurels until everyone realizes that there is nothing to be earned from their presence.
The Domain Newbies
Everyone has been a domain newbie once – with the exception of course of Domain Gods, that were born into the domaining game as divine entities. Newbies flood public forums with questions and astonished statements that savvy domainers faced early on in their careers. Questions about how to unlock a domain or if microsoftsoftwares.biz is a trademark are often responded to with a virtual rolling of the eyes in the form of a smiley. Smart domain newbies talk little and read a lot and soon they graduate to higher echelons of the domaining food chain.
The Domain Trolls
Your domains suck and your TLD sucks – because they suck. Hahahaha!
The Domain Flirts
Domaining is a male-dominated industry; few female domainers are active and able to demonstrate a continuous record of success, mainly because “the boys” don’t make it easier for them. In a world that sets glass ceilings to what women can rise to career-wise, domaining offers plenty of opportunities to mingle among the sexes. It’s just that some overdo it; often openly flirting with the opposite sex pool, in order to achieve certain goals with their charm. Domain flirts are both male and female and usually proliferate in domain conferences.
The Domain Maniacs
Domain maniacs do not rest a single second of the day; they research the news and only talk with their peers about anything related to domains. Usually, a domain maniac is a failed Domain newbie that decided that the best path to becoming a Domain God is through registration of hundreds of useless domains in every vertical and TLD imaginable. Very often, Domain Maniacs are banned from forums temporarily, only to return with more passion and having registered more domains in the latest fad of a TLD.
The Domain Gurus
Domain gurus are truly the essence of the domaining industry; they keep a low profile and yet are eager to offer their knowledge and information, either for free or at a nominal fee. They appreciate the attention and are eager to share their time constructively with all the other sub-species of the domaining industry. Often, they retire before the age of 40 and take a long Sabbatical in the Florida Keys.
The Domain Scammers
Domain scammers include two sub-species; the scamming opportunists and the thieves. The latter are usually young individuals eager to utilize their social engineering skills in order to steal domains of others and profit from them through monetization or reselling. They often reside in countries beyond the reach of International law; their modus operandi seems to be that of stealing from the Domain Gurus and selling to the Domain Newbies. If you see someone buying CBS.com at an online forum, you’re witnessing one such transaction. Scamming opportunists on the other hand, seek a long term approach to domaining. They deceive others by providing false stats, false promises and for small to medium amounts of money. They often take time to build their profiles and personas through elaborate work that sometimes deceives most Domain sub-species, except for the Domain Investigators.
The Domain Investigators
Domain investigators work quickly and without any reward, other than the glory of having nailed Domain Scammers. They identify, trace and locate the identity of scammers through the intelligent use of tools available on the Internet and offline. Often, they work in pairs or small groups in order to exchange viewpoints and information; once all the data points to a single direction they launch their offensive by publicizing their findings, unveiling the scammers and informing the victims about how to recover their lost funds or domain names.
It’s a beautiful domaining world that we live in!
I’m happy you’ve finally recognized yourself as a poseur.
That’s a funny one-liner, coming from an anonymous user of floridaproxy.com 😀
I forgot another category: the Anonymous Coward. But I’ve already written about that earlier on.
I’m glad you spent 3 minutes of your time to read my post. Your response shows that I hit a nerve.
My achievements in the domain industry though are public and recorded, so maybe you need to step back into Troll World.
As a forum junky I enjoyed the read…..
LOL that was a great read! Found similarities to a lot of domainers that I know, some are my buddies. It’s very often that we ignore the characteristics of people that we socialize with. Good work.
I wanted to hand regg DomainDiva.com after reading this but it was already taken. 🙁 I demand cold ice water with my wine.
First time I’ve read a post like this. Found it interesting and enjoyable. Thanks
I’d probably categorize myself as a Smart domain newbie bordering on a domain newbie 🙂 Nice study though
This was great. Very enjoyable reading, and I’m sure there are several other categories we could add, including on the development site. Many poseurs there, too.
One of the best posts I’ve read in a domaining blog all year. Hilarious and so true.
That is one of the funniest categorizations I have come across and was a truly great read! Perhaps you could add a category for the humorous and the not so humorous ones? I have come across a few grouchy ‘Im above a sense of humor’ types I could gladly contribute!
Great post. Have you considered taking up anthropology as a hobby? Pretty good piece of work here.
Thank you for your comments; it wasn’t meant to be an exhaustive list but I did attempt to cover as many personality types as possible. I’m sure that there is certain cross-pollination between the types of domainers; some might even assume different behaviors depending on the circumstances of social interaction.
That’s an incredible analysis of the “domainer species”. Thanks for the laugh too.
As always – served straight up, funny, entertaining and true.
A very good analyse of the sociopsychological culture of the world of domaining. It can be a little book about this phenomenon. Write Acro, because we need it, specially we, newbies, when we try to select our way in that business.
I don`t know how old are you, but you are an observer…
Congrats
Glykon, there’s nothing wrong with being a newbie in any industry. Consider yourself a sponge that absorbs information and ideas unlike those who have saturated themselves. It’s always good having fresh bread on the table, no? 😀
good read indeed!
amitiés,
Ritz
At last! The framework for my new classic – “Darwinism and the Domainer” – the evolution and mutations of this curious species. Thanks for shedding light on the diversity of this new life form. Charles at Galapagos Islands 🙂
Yo Acro,
You didn’t find MY special category name. I’m shocked and dismayed.
Wouldn’t it be a combo of about seven of these titles you created?
And you forgot the “I bug the crap out of the bigger domainers and domain companies just so they know my name”. That title would “The Pest”.
yes?
lol… great take on the domain gamers. Which one would you fall into?
Stephen, you are quite the character 😀
Hey Acro you forgot The Domain Pussies…is full of these animals on the forums! LOL 🙂
LOL – The Domain Trolls! Why must they do this? The equivalent of walking into a private discussion and yelling at the top of their lungs.