In search of my domain

Choosing domain names is always challenging. It affects how people perceive, remember, or find you online. That's why I wanted my domain name to be short and memorable. I started looking for a domain name in 2018-ish when I decided to create an "online presence". Some criteria in mind: Relevancy to my name, catchiness, memorableness, length, etc.

I tried various combinations of my name, initials, and suffixes, but most were either taken or too expensive. But in the end, I was reassured that I should use either sunghyun or cho without any adjectives or nicknames.

I really did not want to use .me .blog or .name TLDs — it was okay, but something was off... .coms were too expensive, and .net felt like I chose it because the .com version was already registered. .co.kr or .us did not represent me correctly because I want to be geographically independent and free. .org was for domains and didn't match me. I liked cho.pro but couldn't register it somehow; cho.co was too expensive & felt too much like a joke, and .xyz felt like I ran out of ideas and picked the most available one. A year later, Google made the .dev domain GA, and I also tried cho.dev, but ① the prices were too expensive (~$800), and ② I wanted to be more than a developer.

I later stumbled upon a domain name that caught my eye: cho.sh, especially given it contains all my name Sunghyun Cho. So I registered it in 2018 and experimented with GitHub Pages, but I did not want to use it at the moment for several reasons:

• The vocab chosh was registered as a negative meaning in Urban Dictionary, which I did not want to be associated with.
• I needed more technical proficiency to satisfy my vision for a personal website, which involved creating a custom theme, adding interactive features, and optimizing performance.
• I wanted to use the domain name finally when the tech was ready so that I could make a 😮-ful impression

So I decided to postpone using cho.sh and instead used blog.chosunghyun.com, which was longer but more conventional and safe. I also continued to learn and improve my web development skills, hoping to one day launch my website with cho.sh. In early 2022, I prepared to use cho.sh after figuring that the Urban Dictionary chosh term was deleted due to spam & wrongful information. Finally, I felt more confident and ready to showcase my work and thoughts online. I migrated my blog from WordPress to Ghost to Docusaurus, making several contributions and almost hacking the framework along the way.

It is also worth mentioning what I mean by "tech is ready." I wanted to make a fully customizable digital garden & second brain. I laid out my vision before starting to work on the framework. Take a look: Creating Next-gen Digital Brains 🧠 @ Sunghyun Cho

Now, we all see I use the domain name cho.sh! I'm thrilled and proud of it. I sometimes think of golfing it further, something less than four characters, but all seems unlikely. I guess cho.sh is the best domain name I could have chosen, and I don't plan to change it anytime soon. It's my online home, and you're always welcome here.