The World Wide Web is often heralded as a great equalizer, a virtual reality free of color and class consciousness. Yet research institutions and journalists have recently called attention to the disproportionately low use of the web by minority and low-income Americans as well as their lack of cultural representation on the web. Currently, an increasing number of sites are addressed to particular ethnic groups. For example, BlackPlanet www.blackplanet.com aims to be a "space to meet people in your community, express yourself, and find information that reflects our cultures and our perspectives." LatinoNet www.latinoweb.com promises a Latino Cyber Space Community in order to "empower the Latino community." Choose a web site devoted to an ethnic or racial group. What are its announced—or implied—aims? How does it cater to a particular audience? What visual and verbal techniques does it use for this audience? Comment on its effectiveness. Now consider the ways in which you can compare entering this ethnic neighborhood in a city or a town. Describe the experience of entering an ethnic neighborhood—as either an insider or an outsider. Write an expository essay in which you compare and contrast the ways in which entering a web site devoted to a particular ethnic group is similar to—or different from—actually walking into an ethnic neighborhood.

Before beginning this assignment, you may want to look at a web community that is not identified with any specific ethnic group in order to get a sense of the standard conventions of such communities. For example, you might look at iVillage (a women's online community) or even a generic Internet gateway, such as AltaVista or Netscape Home. In this way, you will have a better sense of what elements appeal to an ethnic audience when they visit either the web sites suggested by the text or other sites. Write your response.

	To e-mail your work to yourself and/or your instructor, enter the email addresses below. You can then print a copy from your e-mail program.
	Your name. Your e–mail address. Instructor's e–mail address.

Chapter 5. Examining Difference Visual Exercises for Chapter 5 Research Links for Chapter 5

Re:Searching the Web -- Select Another Chapter -- Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Bedford/St. Martin's     |     About this Book     |     Order a Book     |     Contact Us