The Web Site as Virtual Property

In real estate parlance, the host of a web site could be said to be playing the role of the mortgage title company. They’re the ones who make it possible for the site to live on the internet. It’s almost like setting out the parameters for the property to be built. It’s up to the company or individual to build the site, although there are plenty of ways to contract other people to do that complicated work. It’s not uncommon, however, to find that the web site hosting company will also help to build and design the site, too, making it a business that has its hands in all areas related to web sites, from design to implementation.

The site’s domain name acts as the physical address. Like the address of a house, it is a direction for browsers to get directly to where they want to go. Interestingly, this connection between a domain and a physical house address was much more abstract just a few years ago. The culture at large has become accustomed to thinking about the world differently. Where once there were physical maps, now domains like mapquest and gps systems can give directions in moments. The generation growing up now is used to this as a matter of course, so the metaphor of real estate and domain names isn’t difficult to connect to. In fact, it’s become part of the way that humans perceive reality.