***  Haus der Kulturen der Welt: Forum1 Archive  ***
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   [Date]: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 19:25:08 +0200
   [From]: Gerhard Haupt <haupt@snafu.de>
     [To]: "forum1@hkw.kbx.de" <forum1@hkw.kbx.de>
[Subject]: Is the Web shrinking?

Dear members of the list,

With forums such as ours, which continue over a long period of time, it
is not unusual for activity to temporarily wane. I would however like to
bring to attention the fact that this forum will definitely come to an
end in December. There are currently 345 members from more than 50
countries in this mailing list. They signed themselves up because they
want to communicate and exchange ideas about the possibilities,
practical strategies, problems and theoretical aspects of the use of the
Internet in the cultural field, to bring into discussion their own
projects and ideas, participate in other's experiences, or make
contacts. Within the framework of this forum, there is still a good two
months' time which we should use toward this purpose.

There is one topic which I would like to put up for debate now, myself:

One thought at the beginning of this forum was that, with the Internet,
there is for the first time a medium available through which one's own
cultural content can be brought home to an audience of millions around
the world, independent of the established mediation structures. Crucial
to this is, of course, that the respective pages are seen at all.

In this context, a piece appearing recently in a German Internet
magazine gives me something to think about. The title is "Is the Web
shrinking?". Referring to a report in the Los Angeles Times, it states
that though the Web's growth  continues to be strong, users are
concentrating more and more on a few top sites instead of exploring new
ones.

The first question that I ask myself, and which I would like to pass on
to everyone one our list, is of course: Is this really the case, or are
there simply proportional shifts due to the growing number of users.
Isn't it perhaps just that more people first use the big search engines
in order to look for other websites which correspond to their special
interests. What experiences do you have in this regard?

On the other hand, it really does raise the question as to the chances
that cultural websites still have at all, now and in the future, to
catch the attention of a broader audience that doesn't put any effort
into looking for them. The big websites today are created with huge
amounts of financial expenditure and manpower, and are also promoted
through the traditional media. Doesn't this lead to an even greater
displacement of smaller sites into meaninglessness? I, and certainly
many others as well, somehow had the hope that cultures which are
persistently ignored by the established centers and their media-based
mediation structures could be brought closer to a large audience via the
Internet. Is that an illusion? In the end, will in fact only those be
reached who are interested anyhow?

I would find it very interesting if over the next weeks and months of
this forum, we could have a more intense exchange about practical
aspects of the mediation of cultural contents via the Internet - not
only from the perspective of website publishers, but also from the
vuewpoint of the users.

Perhaps it could bring us all a bit further, if those members of the
list who run their own web projects would critically reflect upon their
concrete experiences. Up to this point, most of the projects were
introduced here in the form of a press release. For the sole purpose of
information, this is certainly sufficient. It would be more exciting,
however, if we could also find out which of the goals mentioned were
actually met, and which were not.

I would like to encourage everyone to suggest, before long, the topics
which they want to discuss during the time remaining in this forum.

Best regards,
Gerhard Haupt
moderator of the forum