I’m noticing a shift away from the term ‘home page’ as the name for the entry page of a website. It’s starting to be called a ‘front page’.
I wonder whether this reflects the way that websites are becoming just another form of public communication – one that sits alongside other communication media rather than being something quite different. Are we beginning to apply print/book terminology to websites as the different communication media begin to merge?
Or is it that ‘front page’ better describes what that first page of a website really does? It’s the website version of the office reception or the book cover – a way of inviting us to come inside and learn more. Maybe the page is more of a ‘front’ (that is, the way that organisations want to display themselves to the world) than a ‘home’ (that is, a place of comfort and belonging).