Author Bio

[Matin]

Why the Author bio should be written in third person?

[webdew]

Hi @Matin 

Mostly Author bio is written by the publishers. Say, if it is written in the first person, it will actually pass the idea to the readers that the writer is praising himself/herself, which might negatively impact the readers. 

But if you share the information in the third person, it will positively impact the readers. Indeed, people prefer references more. So, keeping the voice in the third-person helps in building more trust and improves the flow.  

[Phil_DM2]

As @DanielSanchez mentioned, I think it just presents the idea that your website is introducing the author to the reader. However, it could also have to do with the same reason why the first-person is rarely used in, say, essay writing for instance.

Back in college, I was told it's often best not to use "I" or "me" in formal/professional writing. This might just be something that carries over into blogging for some companies. They may prefer to keep the voice in third-person, even in author bios on their site. It's the same reason why website pages like "meet the team" have bios in the third person as well. 

[Matin]

Thanks for the answer.
Yes, its probably about the idea that the website is introducing the author.
But I was more intrested in knowing the psychology behind it, how does it makes difference in the readers' mind.

[DanielSanchez]

Hi @Matin 

I don't know if I understood your question correctly.

I don't believe there is a rule for that. But I believe that it passes the idea that "site" is presenting the author to the reader.

Did this post help solve your problem? If so, please mark it as a solution.

Best regards! 

[Matin]

Well I don't know if it's a rule or not but in the content marketing course it was mentioned that the author bio should be written in 3rd person and I wanted to know the reason behind it.

[Phil_DM2 · Accepted solution]

Ahh, I see. That's interesting. I did a quick search in HubSpot and found this article: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-write-a-bio. It doesn't really go into much detail on why to use third-person, but it mentions:

"Even though this paragraph is allegedly about the author, it’s not actually about you. It’s about your reader, and what that person is looking to learn or gain from your article." 

Maybe that helps explain why third-person is used?

[Matin]

That was very helpful thanks alot.