Dual Identity: Why I Maintain Two Websites
Dual Identity
Maintaining two personal websites can look excessive. It isn’t. It’s a systems decision. I treat my online presence the same way I treat software:
different surfaces, different purposes
When those get mixed, clarity drops.
When they’re separated, everything works better.
This isn’t about personas. It’s about separation of concerns.
Separation of Concerns, Applied to Identity
In development, we don’t put everything in one place.
We separate:
- stable interfaces from experimental code
- public APIs from internal tooling
- production from sandbox
Applying that same logic to identity is straightforward. I maintain two sites because they solve two different problems.
michaelmacdonagh.net
Professional surface.
- clear
- structured
- predictable
Built for:
- employers
- collaborators
- clients
It answers one question:
Can this person be trusted with real work?
mechmadhog.com
Experimental surface.
- rougher
- more opinionated
- thinking in public
Built for:
- exploration
- iteration
- actual thinking
It answers a different question:
How does this person think?
Trying to force both into one site breaks both.
You either dilute the professional side
or constrain the personal one.
I’d rather not compromise either.
Trust and Truth Are Not the Same Thing
A professional site is about trust. A personal site is closer to truth.
They overlap, but they’re not identical. When one surface tries to do both, something flattens:
- the professional voice loses clarity
- the personal voice loses range
Separating them removes that tension.
No constant self-editing.
No mixed signals.
DIY Means Owning the Stack
I prefer:
- static sites
- markdown-first workflows
- version control
- minimal platforms
Running two sites fits that model.
Domains are cheap.
Hosting is trivial.
Automation handles the rest.
The overhead is low. The control is high.
If you can build and maintain your own systems, there’s no reason to force everything into one container.
This isn’t fragmentation. It’s ownership.
Professional Presence Is an Interface
I don’t treat a CV site as a biography.
I treat it as an interface.
That doesn’t make it artificial.
It makes it functional.
The personal site isn’t less professional.
It’s just solving a different problem.
Two surfaces. Clear intent. No conflict.