See that little house icon in the top bar of your browser? That’s your home page shortcut, and most of us know we can select any site we want. For many, it’s our company, agency, or organization landing page. Often, it’s a favorite search engine, news outlet, or content aggregator (I’m partial to Arts & Letters Daily myself).

Change is in the wind, however. Now you can do more than select a home page; you can build your own from the ground up—and you don’t have to be a propeller-headed programmer. Enter NetVibes, an incredibly un-intimidating, intuitively customizable personal home page “construction site.” As explained in Reihan Salam’s recent Slate article:

What Web lovers really need is a home page that gathers all the stuff you want, whether it comes from Google or Yahoo or your Aunt Tilda. Well, I’m here to report that I’ve found that ultimate mash-up.

Sure, NetVibes has weather, sports, music, video, search engines, and news. But it also lets you change browsers as needed, snag email from myriad accounts, and clock blogs at a glance. It has a to-do list and a note pad, and it lets you manage scores of feeds. It’s basically a cyber-Switzerland, welcoming all and bringing it together in a single source of ultra-informative access.

Now, even folks who don’t know their RSS from their elbow can assemble Web points of entry that best suit their needs and interests. Think of it like a new fast-food restaurant that lets you buy a McDonald’s burger, Wendy’s fries, and a Burger King shake. You get all your favorites from one place, in no time.

The impact? Overarching Web “identities” intent on satisfying every interest might be on the outs. To wield Web influence, think about empowering users through individual features and functionalities they select and apply as they see fit.