.com can be used by anyone, not just commercial ventures.
People prefer Something.com because it requires only one slot in people’s memory but Something.net requires two slots. This is because .com is default, and .net is an aberration from the default. If your website is Something.net then people have to remember that (1) your website is at Something, and (2) it’s at something .net instead of .com.
Perhaps this is my own bias then. Many, if not most, of my favorite sites are .net, and I have to specifically remember that this is not .net (not that it matters, really).
The big one is www.webdiplomacy.net. Diplomacy is a 7-player board game that I quite enjoy. Behind that would be www.survivingtheworld.net, a web comic a la xkcd. Those two sites probably account for ~30% of my internet traffic alone. Although that’s a complete guess, really, and largely due to the fact that I will check WebDiplomacy repeatedly to see if I have any messages, even if I don’t actually do anything there.
This is a good explanation. I have my own personal domain which is my firstnamelastname.com. People have asked me before why I used a ”.com” when I don’t use the site for any commercial purpose. The reason is just as you explained, only I have never stated it quite so well before.
.com can be used by anyone, not just commercial ventures.
People prefer Something.com because it requires only one slot in people’s memory but Something.net requires two slots. This is because .com is default, and .net is an aberration from the default. If your website is Something.net then people have to remember that (1) your website is at Something, and (2) it’s at something .net instead of .com.
Perhaps this is my own bias then. Many, if not most, of my favorite sites are .net, and I have to specifically remember that this is not .net (not that it matters, really).
What websites do you use that are .net?
The big one is www.webdiplomacy.net. Diplomacy is a 7-player board game that I quite enjoy. Behind that would be www.survivingtheworld.net, a web comic a la xkcd. Those two sites probably account for ~30% of my internet traffic alone. Although that’s a complete guess, really, and largely due to the fact that I will check WebDiplomacy repeatedly to see if I have any messages, even if I don’t actually do anything there.
Unsolicited advice:
Why not use bookmarks?
Oh, I do. It just kind of makes me twitch whenever I see .com, since it’s contrary to expectation, given my knowledge of the site.
This is a good explanation. I have my own personal domain which is my firstnamelastname.com. People have asked me before why I used a ”.com” when I don’t use the site for any commercial purpose. The reason is just as you explained, only I have never stated it quite so well before.