An Internet Article Review

Carstarphen, Meta G. and Jacqueline Johnson Lambaise. “Domination and Democracy in Cyberspace: Reports from the Majority Media and Ethnic/Gender Margins.” Cyberghetto or Cybertopia?:Race, Class, and Gender on the Internet. Ed. Bosah Ebo. Westport: Praeger, 1998. 121-135.

In this article, the authors discuss different concepts of the internet and it’s uses as a method of communication and as a tool of domination. Since the internets conception, it has been seen as an open ground of egalitarian ideas, where people from all walks of life may get together and discuss issues without one character dominating the other. The idea of the internet as a vast, ever expanding and formless environment may have some truth to it, but in order for this well of knowledge to become tapped, there must be a convenient way of navigating through the internet. The authors argued the idea that the internet is not so much a place where everyone is equal, but that the internet is comparable to real estate. Instead of bordering landscapes, internet space is dictated by the “bracketing of ideas”. Instead of egalitarian ideas, digital domination is formed out of the literature prevalent on the internet and in the media, affecting the online status of both gender and ethnicity.

To build the credibility of their argument, multiple academic articles are cited. The articles mentioned are mostly concerned with computer-mediated communication and gender participation. One professor, Dr. J.J. Lambiase , conducted a study which involved a class of 43 Journalism students. Ten students were male, while the remaining 33 students were female. Within the class, approximately only four members have had any experience with computer-mediated communication at the beginning of the course. The class was conducted over 11 ½ weeks in Fall 1996. During that time, the participants go from posting trivial information, to getting into arguments over business in the class. One student started posting racist, sexist and old jokes which only escalated the hostile mood in the discussion board. The behavior of this student within the class lectures however was a far cry from his attitude online, quiet and non-confrontational. By the end of the course, data was collected concerning participation. In the discussion board, 216 messages were posted by students. Of the 216, 121 were posted by the males, while only 95 were posted by the females. The professor points out that even though only 23% of the class was male, they posted 56% of the messages. In a few interviews that were conducted after the class, the women explained that the reason why they were not posting as often was because of the hostile environment that developed. The professor concludes in her research that people are much more likely to reveal their internal belief system. The data also gave evidence for a claim made by Professor W.J. Ong, who stated that many women have been socially conditioned to avoid interpersonal conflict, while men have been conditioned to enjoy conflict as a game.

In their conclusion, the authors explain that the depiction of the internet as either a barrier-free medium or a commercially dominated arena rely on every internet user’s characterization of its being. Popular media today focuses on ownership and economics concerning the internet, without building on the notion of being a free-to-participate network. In order for the internet to become a truly free environment, the users must get rid of internet authority figures such as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. They finish off by stating that to make a judgment on the internet today would be premature because there is still a very large population that hasn’t been accounted for on the internet. Only time will tell if the internet will become a barrier-free medium or a media fuelled economic machine.

--Joshua Winn