BY 2018 IF YOU HAVE NOT PURCHASED YOUR DOMAIN NAME, YOU MIGHT END UP PAYING THOUSANDS

According to the ICANN, thousands of reselling companies are buying or registering domain names made of people name to resell in the future and this business will be a success to them as us the people do not take action and register our name. It's sad... But you still have a chance to do so. A domain name cost $1 a month. You can turn your site into your resume or blog. The sky is the limit...

Getting a domain is easy, and cheap nowaday. For the price of three cups of coffee, you can register a domain. I use ipage.com, which is run by the safest, and fastest providers, but there are lots of reputable registrars from which to pick. (The always valuable Lifehacker lists it once here.)

Unless you have an extremely uncommon last name, you'll be unlikely to find it available. But you may well be able to get your FirsnameLastname.com address – And even if you can't you can use other domain suffixes or find a name that is still useful. Remember, most people find websites via searches, so don't worry if you can't get your exact name.

Let's say you've gotten your domain name. How do you create your presence? Most registrars will help you create placeholder sites – a page or two that you can edit. My advice is to do something better: buy your domain name with ipage and start a blog. One of the easiest ways is to get a WordPress account which ipage already connect it with your domain name, and use its powerful blogging tools. 

You can also install your own blogging software. This gives you more flexibiity, and takes a bit more expertise, but many low-cost hosting companies – the internet providers that provide (typically shared) servers that power your domain – will set up blogs for you. My own provider has web-based software that makes it simple for me to create new sites.

I don't update my personal blog all that often anymore, though I've decided to get more active than I've been. Like many other people who've flocked to social networks, I've cut back on posting to my own sites while increasing my activity on social media, especially Twitter and Google+. (I no longer use Facebook in any public way.)

Again, I recognize the trade-offs. Those services' huge size means I can get my ideas and information in front of thousands of people easily without having to lure them to my own blogs. Then there's convenience: I have to update my personal blog software (it's easy), while the online giants do it for us.

These trade-offs will only grow more difficult, I suspect. But there's at least one I won't make: giving up control of who I am and what I believe to people who may or may not be my friends in years to come. To the extent that I possibly can, I will control at least this much of my own destiny. You should, too.