I was going to post something to this effect, but I'm glad you also brought up the bragging point. I think it's safer to argue that everyone could benefit from a personal site, and the arguments the author lays out are pretty compelling in that context, but not much further.

I'd like to see a discussion over whether a personal website is a better investment of one's time (and money?) than a LinkedIn profile on balance (maybe for certain people). It may be controversial, but I imagine there are good points on both sides (more detailed insight about exposure from google analytics on someone's and better export affordances with personal sites; a real network and infrastructure on LinkedIn's side).