A
Study of Private Websites in the United States
and Germany
Research Project
Sandra Roth
Charles Ess
Cross-cultural Approaches to Internet-Research –
Basic Issues and Emerging Guidelines
Wintersemester 2004/05
Universität Trier
Details:
In my research project, I studied private websites in Germany and the USA. I tried to find categories
that mark whether a site is more a private place or a public space. I had a
look on visual and textual metaphors that people use to present their private
content and on environments they create by the design and infrastructure of
their site.
Furthermore, I contacted these persons and asked them, whether they are
aware of the fact that their site is a “sightseeing place” for “online
tourists” all around the globe or if they don´t care about that because they
send their link only to closely related people.
And finally I wanted them to decide if their real name, address and
website address should appear in my study. If so, I wanted them to comment why
they didn´t have a problem with that. If they decided not to allow me the
publication of their private dates, I would ask them to tell me which risks
they see and why they feel uncomfortable about publishing their real identity.
I argued that if their names are being published on the internet with
access-possibilities from all over the world, then why shouldn´t they be
published in a study.
I also asked them about their experiences with users from other
countries and visitors of their sites or if conducting a website has ever lead
to meeting interesting people with the same interests or getting to know new
friends.
I chose this topic because I´m interested in web design and in the fact
how people appropriate the technique of building websites to express their own
creativity. Furthermore I started building my own website two years ago (www.red-sandy.de)
and found out how funny it is to expose your own paintings to hundreds of
people who would never have seen them if they were only hanging in my home.
Having my own website made me become very careful about the question what to
publish because you are constantly aware of the fact that you show something of
your privacy which is not a normal state and may cause some controversy or
precise consideration about what should be or not be published on a private site.
The first release took me some sleepless nights and I found it very exciting.
Now I´m used to having this site and it won´t matter if it exists or doesn´t
exist at all.
In Amy Bruckman´s „Studying the amateur artist“ it is mentioned that
internet users can be regarded as “amateur artists”. There has always been
amateur art in every culture and every time, but usually it was hidden behind
the walls that mark the border to private spheres in houses and private
property. Very view people managed to publish their own creations, whether as
texts, paintings, photography or baking recipes in public spheres. And if so,
these spheres were primarily limited to a certain group or location.
Since the advent of the internet, anyone in the world can visit a
private site where a person posts his or her poems, photos, paintings or
creative work. Bruckman introduces the term of the “amateur artist” as a
metaphor that fits well to describe the situations of researchers studying
private sites and their responsibility to protect privacy. If we conceal the
names of people who create their own sites in our studies, we refuse to pay
them attention and credit for their creative work. If we publish their names,
we risk those people to be harmed or endangered because their sites are exposed
to a larger amount of web users because of our research project. Bruckman
regards private content on websites as “semi-published” work, depending on the
degree how much links from and to public sites exist.
One of her questions is whether a private homepage with a private
photography can be seen more as a place like a living room in a house where
only close friends and family members have the permission to enter or if it can
be compared to a public gallery where anyone is allowed and invited to enter
and take a look. She thinks that our usual culturally formed terms of “privacy”
and “public” do no longer work on the internet. In her opinion, even forums
threads and chat room content can be seen as the work of amateur artists. These
contents are also “semi published” because the intention of the person who
writes them usually is to address a smaller group of people. But anyone who is
spending time on the internet must be aware of the fact that he or she can be
watched, observed or studied from any point in the world. That may have
advantages but it also may lead to risks.
Design:
20 to 30 sites in both Germany
and the USA,
acquired from public link lists of communities, media sites or states with “web
links” areas. It will not be easy to study the same amount of sites by males
and females because many women are not interested in website technics so that
the field of self-made websites is a field dominated by male “amateur artists”.
Definition of what a private site is: I would define a private site as a
site created and ruled by a private person who doesn´t pursue commercial
interests with publishing information or doesn´t try to represent
institutional, political, religious or social group interests. This site refers
to one special person who is the main actor in the texts on it. It may be
created by another person as well, but represents one person that is presented
through the site. Websites of whole families or private groups are also
considered in this study. It should represent the interests of that person and
show his or her creative work over and above job issues. Therefore it will
occasionally show something that is normally hidden behind private walls.
Criterias and Questions:
Is the examined site more a public or a
private site? How is it presented? By which design idea? Is there a visual
metaphor used, like a shopping center or a house, a room or a landscape? Is
this metaphor consistent through the whole site? Or is there another visual
design idea or plan? How are hierarchies presented? How are hierarchy systems
marked by colour , symbols or typography? Do the colours, the typography, the
design idea and the appearance of the site show good or bad taste. Do they
direct the intention of the site more to a public or a private status. Is the
site referring to the textual metaphors of space and virtuality within the
texts? Does it present itself as a space that can be compared to a similar
space in reality, like a café or an office?
Is it according to Ralph Siegel a first
generation website with plain text on grey ground or a second generation site
with blink tags an exaggeration. Or is it a website with an original design
idea that tries to evade the technical limits of the medium? Is the designer
using a common design with a link navigation on the left site an a picture on
top of the site or has he or she tried to implement his own ideas. Is he using
a preformatted design like many providers offer?
Is the Website-Address modified to a short
format like www.peter-miller.com which
usually costs a duty fee or is it a free domain name like www.geocities.com/metafile/marionmiller.com
… does the person presented in the site own an email address that is related to
the URL like info@peter-miller.com
Is the site HTML-programmed or has it been
build with an editor or generator software like Microsoft Frontpage? Has the
designer used a stated layout or has he had the design firmly under control.
Have graphics or animations been taken from other web designers Is the owner
the same person who build the site or has it been build by a friend or company.
Have Scripts been used, Applets or Methods like Cascading Style Sheets to fix
the layout? Has the author uploaded an imprint?
Has the site an entry site? Has it a
hierarchy with many levels or more a shallow site structure? How is the visitor
guided by design and infrastructure? Is there a guidance system that uses repeated
color and style to lead the visitors? Is there a sitemap?
Can there be found some cultural
signifiers such as typical north American or German stereotypes? Are there
identity signifiers - symbols that show memberships to a certain group or
community?
What can we say about the tone that is
used? Is it high flown language, scientific language, common or ordinary
speech? Business language or slang?
Can we find interactive elements such as
chat room, forum or a guestbook. What do the entries in the guestbook tell us
abut the audience of the site? Are they close friends who know the owner
personally or family members, are they people with the same interests? Do they
come from other parts of the world? How many users visited the site? When has
it been launched for the first time? Is there a site statistic that shows us
how many visitors per day or years come to visit the site? How often do people
sign the forum or guestbook? How many entries have been done in the past twelve
months?
How many photos can we find that show the
person who is presented throughout the site. Which other motives can be found:
Vacation, pets, children, friends and relatives, Hobbies, cars or other special
interests like music, film or cooking. What about the quality of the graphics?
Are there image maps used? Are there actual photo galleries that tell stories
or give insight upon the activities of the owner of the website?
Which items are describes in the site?
Special Interests, Hobbies (Music, Sports etc.) or Public Affairs (“This is my
hometown” or “Here is my working place.”) Are there public or social interest
like “save the rain wood forest” listed.
Are clubs like sports teams etc. mentioned
which the owner of the site participates? Are special ethnic groups represented
or minorities. Which amateur art is shown? Poems, Drawings, Photography,
Paintings or Literature? Is the web user trying to sell these artefacts.
What does the author expose – his private
dates like age, gender, job, status, address. Is there a life career described,
e.g. which schools the owner of the site visited throughout his career? Are
Family members and friends presented by demographic information? Is there a
greetings corner?
What can the user tell us about the links
on other sites that lead to his or her site? Has he constructed a special
advertising site banner to promote the site? Has he contacted search engines to
incorporate the site in their archives? Has he written to public sites with
link lists for permission to join those lists? How many links do lead to this
site which he or she knows or even started off.
Of what kind are the links the author
included? Are there more internal links that lead to deeper levels of the site?
Or is he using many external links to sites that reflect his or her interests.
Are those links located in the texts or are they listed separately.
What about the information content? Has
the author written the texts on his or her own or has he copied some texts from
the internet? Is he mentioning bibliographical references?
Is the site linking to online games,
communities, portals, media sites or to other private sites ore sites which
serve only special interests?
How is the author trying to “be his own
hero” and presenting her advantages. Is he or she also telling us her
handicaps, disadvantages or negative sites? Is he trying to be a teacher? Is he
trying to share or explain his philosophy of life? Is the content too
euphemistic or believable? Is the content static or dynamic –is there a
calendar? Is there a weblog – a virtual diary?
Are the owners of the sites aware of the fact that their site is a
“sightseeing place” for “online tourists” all around the world or don´t they
care about that because they send their link only to closely related people.
I´d also like to ask them about their experiences with users from other
countries and visitors of their sites or if conducting a website has ever lead
to meeting interesting people with the same interests or getting to know new
friend.
Furthermore my study will contain some
descriptive and qualitative parts towards the websites I examine.
Literature:
Amy Bruckman "Studying the amateur artist“ (2002),
O’Riordan and Bassett “Ethics
of Internet Research: Contesting the Human Subjects Research Model” (2002),
White 2002.
Focus
What do we get to know about the people
who own a homepage? Which "secrets" do we find out? Can we get more
information by visiting these pages than by e.g. meeting them in a café with
friends or visiting them at home? What are their experiences? How do they
present their “amateur art”? Which motives do they have to publish their
privatcy? How do those people conceive the space they created? How much time do
they spend on working on their sites? Are they also frank personalities in
reality?
The examined sites were caught by chance
in a “Google Search Session” without preferences or special search criterias,
by German and American university student´s private pages
(http://rankmyhomepage.studentcenter.org/index.php) and by pages in link lists
and media sites like www.intrinet.de. I chose
29 German and 23 American sites first to find out of the email-addresses were
still up to date. You find a complete list of the Sites and their Owner´s
emails in the affix b and c.
Then I awaited the feedback to my first
Email:
All subjects received this Email:
Hallo!
Mein Name ist Sandra Roth, ich studiere
Medienwissenschaft und Soziologie an der Universität Trier und mache gerade
eine Studie über private Homepages in Deutschland und den USA, in der Websites
von Privatpersonen als „Amateur-Kunstwerke“ untersucht werden. Auch wird
untersucht, wie viel die Personen auf ihren Sites von sich selbst preisgeben. Dabei
habe ich zufällig auch Deine Homepage entdeckt. Wärst Du einverstanden, dass
ich
a) Deine Site untersuche (Inhalt, Gestaltung und
Sitestruktur)? Ja ( )
Nein ( )
b) Deinen vollständigen Namen innerhalb meiner Studie
nenne? Ja ( ) Nein (
)
c) Deine Siteadresse und Deine Emailadresse innerhalb
meiner Studie nenne
Ja
( )
Nein ( )
Bitte ankreuzen und diese Email mit dem
Betreff „Homepage-Studie an mich zurücksenden (sroth@klangnetz.de). Wenn Du nur „a)“ ankreuzt,
wird die Beschreibung Deiner Site ein Teil der Studie sein, ohne dass irgend
jemand Deinen Namen oder die Webadresse erfährt. Natürlich bekommst Du eine
Kopie meiner Studie zugesand, wenn diese abgeschlossen ist. Ich habe übrigens
auch eine Homepage: www.red-sandy.de – schau
doch gerne mal vorbei. Viele Grüße, Sandra Roth.
Hello!
My name
is Sandra Roth, I´m a student of Media Science and Sociology at Trier University
and I´m currently doing a study about private homepages in Germany and the United States, in which websites of
private persons are examined as “amateur art”. It will also be analysed how
much of their privacy people disclose whithin their sites. In doing so, I also
discovered your homepage by chance. Would you allow me to
a) Examine your site (content, design und structure)? Yes (
) No ( )
b) Mention your complete Name within my study?
Yes( ) No ( )
c) Mention your site address and your email address within my study? Yes( )
No( )
Please
tick and send this mail back to me (sroth@klangnetz.de) with the reference “Homepage
Study”. If you only choose “a)”, the description of your site will be part of
the study without anybody knowing your name and the web address. You will
certainly receive a copy of my Study as soon as it will be finished. By the
way: I also own a homepage: www.red-sandy.de – I would be glad if you
visited it. Many greetings, Sandra Roth.
Explanation:
The
subject name I used in this Email was "Homepage Study".
Hello! (I
tried to be informal to create confidence)
(At first
I introduced me and my project:) My name is Sandra Roth, I´m a student of Media
Science and Sociology at Trier University and I´m currently doing a study about
private homepages in Germany
and the United States.
In doing so, I also discovered your homepage by chance. (I explained that used
a random sample of pages.) Would you (I chose “Du” in the German Version to
create confidence) allow me to
a) Examine your site (content,
design und structure)? Yes ( ) No (
)
b) Mention your complete Name
within my study? Yes ( ) No (
)
c) Mention your site address
and your email address within my study? Yes (
) No ( )
(All test
subjects had the opportunity to choose if they would like to participate the
study anonymously or by publishing their name or by mentioning their site address
and an email feedback opportunity. I did this because many people are very
thin-skinned when their name should be represented to a larger public.)
Please
tick and send this mail back to me (sroth@klangnetz.de) with the reference “Homepage
Study”. If you only choose “a)”, the description of your site will be part of
the study without anybody knowing your name and the web address. You will
certainly receive a copy of my Study as soon as it will be finished. By the
way: I also own a homepage: www.red-sandy.de – I would be glad if you
visited it. (I mentioned this to create confidence. I thought if they saw that
I´m also a “web freak” and have no problem with showing them some of my
“amateur art”, they would feel better in agreeing being part of my study) Many
greetings, Sandra Roth.
Feedback
Before I
started my study, I awaited the feedback of the site owners. If someone sent ME
this mail, I would surely NOT participate and ignore it, because I thought
there were enough sites on the web, so why should someone examine MINE? I think
many people think the same way.
To the people who didn´t answer my first email or
didn´t agree to examine their site, publish their name, email and site address,
I send an additional email to ask them why they didn’t want to participate
although everybody could get the information they presented on the web on their
private pages from every point in the world. Only one of the contacted persons
reacted upon this.
German female site owner E. Fuchs allowed a, denied
b and c , so I asked her why she did want to participate without telling her
name: " Hallo! Vielen
Dank für die Erlaubnis Deiner Teilnahme. Da es in meiner Studie auch um den
Schutz der Privatsphäre auf Websites geht, wäre es nett, wenn Du mir kurz in einigen
Sätzen begründen könntest, warum Du NICHT damit einverstanden bist, dass Dein
Name und Deine Homepageadresse in meiner Studie genannt werden, wo das Internet
ja eigentlich ein offenes Feld ist, in dem jeder weltweit Deine Homepage
besuchen kann. Ich werde Deinen Homepagenamen und Deinen Namen natürlich nicht
erwähnen, sondern lediglich Deine Begründung veröffentlichen. Freundlicher
Gruß, Sandra Roth."
Her
answer was: ... "Hallo Sandra Roth, ach
- das ist ganz einfach: Meine Homepage ist nach einem XHTML-Kurs an der Uni an
zwei Nachmittagen entstanden und deshalb eher ein Experimentierfeld als eine
wirklich liebevoll gepflegte Homepage (was man ja auch am Datum der letzten
Änderung erkennen kann...). Schön, wenn jemand auf die Seite kommt, der gezielt
nach ihr (bzw. MIR) gesucht hat. Andere (vor allem solche, die sich meine
simpel gestrickten Seiten mit analysierendem Blick betrachten werden) müssen
nicht extra dort hingelenkt werden. Trotzdem viel Spaß bei der Arbeit und Grüße
aus Tübingen von E. Fuchs"
The Questionary
I sent a questionary to all the people who I chose to
participate my study, independent of their degree of consent:
Hello! A few days ago I sent you an email to inform you about the fact
that I´d like to examine your homepage within a study about private homepages
in Germany and the United States.
Within this study I worked out a questionary (affix of this email). It would be
nice if you took a few minutes to answer these questions and send the filled
out form back to sroth@klangnetz.de. Of course your dates will be analysed
anonymously and treated confidentially. Many greetings, Sandra Roth,
www.red-sandy.de Thank you for participating my
study. It would be nice if you could also tell me something about your
experiences with your site. Please tick! You find both of the blank
questionaries - the german and the american version in the Affix.
Feedback
I received seven of these questionaries back. So
this study cannot be regarded as representative. Four were answered by German
male site owners and three came back from american site owners. Two out of
those were male and one was female. In addition to the questionaire, I took a
look the content of the sites. What do they focus on? I leaned on the categories
in question 15 and worked out more categories throughout my study. I mentioned
special features (web blogs etc.) and took a look on design, content and
structure of the sites. Tomas Roth (http://www.tommi-pictures.de) and Christa
Watson (http://www.quadgirls.com) allowed me to examine their sites in the
descriptive part of my study although they didn´t fill out my questionary. So
the content of their sites will also be mentioned here.
The sites
Björn
Heil´s site www.bjoern-heil.de doesn´t focus on design but on content. Web-Guru
David Siegel would classify his site as a second generation website. Health,
sports and a lucky life are very important to him. The link section supports
this attitude. He also tells us something about his favourite books about world
views, religion, food and health. Picture-Galleries from his
"Rohkosttreffen" are published and his curriculum vitae shows that he
must be a breakaway who left his job and started to make a business out of his
Philosophy of live which can be found under www.glueck-erleben.de. 268 visitors,
mostly from Germany,
signed his guestbook.
Daniel
Rüd´s page www.danielrued.com has a professional artwork and a moderate design.
He works in the field of software engineering and seems to know that one is
punishable if he doesn´t include an imprint on his site. 8500 pictures tell the
story of his private life in the past six years: Parties, Cars and Soccer. His
Webblog has been updated about twice a month in 2005 and more often in winter
2004. Some Links and an FAQ-Section give Information of his Job as a
"Fachinformatiker". Music, Computers and Web-Programming. He owns
about 50 web-domains of which only 13 are already containing websites. His
homepage is well structured and appeals cold, informal and somehow calculating.
The
website of Helmut Zenz is very traditional and "bayrisch". A
"Trachtenverein"-Section show his connectivity to his home and
traditions. His home village Obing is described in any perspective a village
offers: Geographical, historical and social. Many themes reflect his catholic
attitude and career. He is a real Fan of the life and work of Don Bosco and
knows a lot about christian sociology. Helmut Zenz is a good example that
personal preferences from the real live of a person are transmitted into the
web and reflext his or her sociological background. We do not get to know any
personal information which would be interesting from a psychological point of
view but we see all of the sociological structures this person lives in.
Thomas
Hagi hijacks his visitors into a world of dreams by showing a romantic personal
photo which has been shot from a planeflight above the clouds on the first page
of his site. He is not a professional designer - he uses a standard font and
all the contents are centered without typographical background knowledge. But
he seems to have a sure feeling for harmonic colour composing. The back of his
site is blue and fits well to the photo on the startpage. Headlines are bigger
than the content text. Apart from a place where he tries to sell a motorcycle,
he conducts a photo gallery with very professional motives from vacation trips,
cats, oldtimers and a mississippi
riverboat queen. He doesn´t offer much information about himself which
corresponds to his self-description of being a shy and uncommunicative person
in public. His site contents the regular from left-above to right-below
hierarchy and he waives a guestbook on his site http://t-hagi.ch
John
Yowan´s webhome http://myweb.cableone.net/theyowans/johna.html is a place with colourful
fonts on a black background-screen. His starting-page is more or less a
linklist with many intertextual links. The information seems to have a random
structure. Among photos, essays and a web-blog we get to know a lot of his
hobbies, friends and his favourite music. He is a typical American well
integrated pupil with some computer skills but no design experience and his
page looks like a lock box in an American highschool - as it is often presented
on German TV series. The icons he uses have been taken from the internet and
his private photos are far from professional. He has no preferences that seem
special, conspicuous or non conform and is still developing his own personality
as an adult.
K.
(female) Rosier appears as a person with many secrets. She likes "Van
Helsing", Fiction Press, "Star Wars" and Philosophy and seems to
be a student at the age of about 20. Her web-blog on www.cc.gatech.edu/~missk/Frame.html
shows that she deals with her environment like a typical dreamy girl but is
also critically watching herself and defining the changes and developments in
her young life like the author of an autobiographical teenager-story. This is
stressed by the title of the page "Redefined". She publishes short
stories and poems and collects quotes which she regards as significant. She´s a
good example of the fact that the websites of girls or women often differ a lot
from those of boys or men. Also her design is very romantic, dreamy and
individual. She has the talent to postmark the medium internet with her own
aesthetic attitude.
Peter
Turnham regards his web presence http://ptthome.club.fr/main.htm as a private
space where he puts pictures on the wall - and so it appears. Among a lot of
very professional and original photos of parrots, his family, vacation tours
and a pictured story of his "in the blood" hobby motorbikes, he
published a huge variety of camera models he collected. His photos could be
distributed as postcards - but he doesn´t seem to sell them because the
galleries are completed with personal texts, memories and further information.
Many really nice pictures have not been scanned or prepared very careful which
reduces the pleasure to look at them. Very interesting is the fact that every
section has a watermarked background with a single-colored motive that fits
well to the theme it underlines. Peter seems to be a creative mind who uses the
web to present his favourite hobby - photography.
Thomas
Roth is a mid-twen media designer from south-west Germany who uses his site
www.tommi-pictures.de to present his bias for movies in many forms. Among his
personal "Top Ten Movie Charts", he also dedicated a section to his
favourite actress Sandra Bullock. A very funny gallery shows the activities of
the Sandra-Bullock-Fanclub he founded. Sparkling wine with
Sandra-Bullock-labels and redesigned posters proof that his jobskills are also
used in his leisure time to create entertaining art with a very individual
charm. Besides the common links to a guestbook and a forum at the end of his
linklist, he also lists links to movie companies, producers, actors, composers
and - of course - Sandra-Bullock-fansites. The site design is very simple and
understated white on blue, but very business-like and aware of a kind of public
audience which may hang together with the advertising-job of the author.
Christa
Watson welcomes her audience with a very creative but unprofessional design.
The female motorcyclist on the picture at the top executes a movement out of
the comprehensive design which is a "deadly sin" among professionals.
Also the experimental title proves not much typographical skills but
resourcefulness. Christa, 19 of Ohio,
races ATV's herself and created her site as a public space to share experiences
with other female racers. Among information of racing events and results she
provides some information about herself talking about herself in a third person
perspective ("Read what makes her lucky"). She created a lot of
feedback-items such as a questions-area and contact-possibilities. We also find
a list of all her female racing fellows with a short summing up list of the
main characteristics of each of them. She presents herself as a team-player.
The most interesting thing in this site is the apparent incommensurateness of
femininity, spirit of adventure and a usually male dominated hobby which is well
sponsored by the colors she uses - black, white and pink.
Additional information about the people who filled out
the questionary:
http://www.bjoern-heil.de
30 years
old
"Industriekaufmann", now working as
"selbständiger Lebens-Freude-Berater"
allowed
site-examination, publication of his complete name, site adress and email
address
Daniel
Rüd: Germany
(61200 Wölfersheim)
http://www.danielrued.com
26 years
old
student "Informatik und Mathematik
auf Lehramt an Gymnasien"
allowed
site-examination, publication of his complete name, site address and email
address
Helmut Zenz: Germany (wohnhaft in Benediktbeuern und in Obing)
http://www.helmut-zenz.de/helmut.htm
37 years old
Theologe und Politikwissenschaftler, heute Aspirantat
bei den Salesianern Don
Boscos.
allowed
site-examination, publication of his complete name, site address and email
address
Thomas
Hagi: Germany or Switzerland (no
exact location mentioned)
http://t-hagi.ch
no age or
birthday mentioned
answered
the questionary without allowing or denying publication of his data.
John
Yowan: USA (Chanute, Kansas)
http://myweb.cableone.net/theyowans/johna.html
17 years
old
Junior at
High School
answered
the questionary without allowing or denying publication of his data.
K.
(female) Rosier: USA (hometown Houston,
TX ; currently living in Atlanta, GA
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~missk/Frame.html
"Ageless"
"first
year on Georgia Tech"
allowed
site-examination, publication of his complete name, site address and email
address
Peter
Turnham: USA
(no hometown mentioned)
http://ptthome.club.fr/main.htm
no age or
birthday mentioned
answered
the questionary without allowing or denying publication of his data.
Here are the answers:
1) Was it
a thrilling feeling to upload it the first time? Yes ( )
No ( )
Björn
Heil: yes
Daniel
Rüd: no
Helmut
Zenz: yes
Thomas
Hagi: yes
John
Yowan: yes
K.
(female) Rosier: no
Peter
Turnham: yes
2) Did you get feedback merely from your friends or from people all over the
world?
Björn Heil: Ich bekam Feedback aus der ganzen
Welt, über das Gästebuch, sehr viel über eMail und sogar einige Anrufe.
Daniel Rüd: Im Prinzip von Leuten aus der
ganzen Welt zu den diversesten Themen.
Helmut Zenz: Aufgrund des Charakters meiner
Seiten wirklich aus der ganzen Welt, von ganz unterschiedlichen Leuten. Viele
meiner Freunde haben erst sehr spät meine Seite entdeckt, da ich dafür keine
„Werbung“ gemacht habe.
Thomas Hagi: Ausschliesslich durch Freunde
und Bekannte.
John Yowan:
People all over the world.
K.
(female) Rosier: neither.
Peter
Turnham: "x"
3) How
frank would you reckon yourself when you are with your friends? (I choose a
Likert-Scale with seven items.)
very
frank 1( )
2( ) 3(
) 4( )
5( ) 6(
) 7(
) very uncommunicative
Björn Heil: 2
Daniel Rüd: 1
Helmut Zenz: 3
Thomas
Hagi: 2
John
Yowan: 1
K.
(female) Rosier: 2
Peter
Turnham: 4
4) How
frank would you reckon yourself when you are in a community of foreign people?
very
frank 1( ) 2( )
3( ) 4(
) 5( )
6( ) 7(
) very uncommunicative
Björn
Heil: 3
Daniel Rüd: 3
Helmut Zenz: 4
Thomas Hagi: 7 ("der scheue
Medienintellektuelle")
John
Yowan: 1
K.
(female) Rosier: no answer
Peter
Turnham: 4
5) Did
you ever gain negative experiences with your homepage? Which?
Björn Heil: Gelegentlich kommen negative
Gästebucheinträge. Seit ich es aber auf „moderated“ umgestellt habe ist das
kein Problem mehr.
Daniel Rüd: Namen, Adresse und Geburtsdatum
wurden missbraucht, um bei eBay gefakete Accounts anzumelden und somit
eBay-User zu betrügen (siehe Punkt 14). Die Kommentarfunktion bei Bildern und
das Gästebuch werden häufig dazu benutzt, um die abgebildeten Personen zu
beleidigen oder zu beschimpfen bzw. einfach nur um Werbung für die eigene Site
zu machen.
Helmut Zenz: Da manche meiner gesammelten
Informationen für bestimmte Personen unangenehm waren, habe ich einige Male
Drohungen mit dem Rechtsanwalt bekommen und eine Unterlassungsklage mit einigen
Schwierigkeiten abwenden können.
Thomas Hagi: Bis anhin keine und ich hoffe es
bleibt auch so.
John
Yowan: None so far.
K.
(female) Rosier: Not really.
Peter
Turnham: "n"
6) How do
you personally regard the space you created on the web? (several ticks
possible)
Like a
visiting card ( )
Like the
front of my house where people who are passing by take a short look into my
window ( )
Like a
living room where I welcome friends ( )
Like my
private room where I put pictures on the wall (
)
Like a
studio where anyone can take a look upon my private art ( )
Björn Heil: Als Visitenkarte.
Daniel Rüd: Als Visitenkarte.
Als Wohnzimmer, wo ich Freunde und Bekannte empfange.
Als Atelier, wo jeder sich meine privaten Kunstwerke ansehen kann.
Helmut Zenz: Als Atelier, wo jeder sich meine
privaten Kunstwerke ansehen kann.
Thomas Hagi: Als Wohnzimmer, wo ich Freunde
und Bekannte empfange.
John
Yowan: Like a living room where I welcome friends.
Like a studio where anyone can take a look upon my private art.
K.
(female) Rosier: Like the front of my house where people who are passing by
take a short look into my window.
Peter Turnham: Like
my private room where I put pictures on the wall
7) How
long has your site been on the web? Since ______________
Björn Heil: 24.02.2002.
Daniel Rüd: Seit 1998.
Helmut Zenz: Mit eigener Adresse seit 2000
(vorher aber schon unter anderen Adressen ab 1995).
Thomas Hagi: Seit Februar 2005.
John Yowan: Since 2004.
K. (female) Rosier: Since 2004.
Peter Turnham: Since 5 years.
8) How many people visited it
____________
Björn Heil: ca. 17.000
Daniel Rüd: 250.000
Helmut Zenz: Laut Statistik habe ich täglich
mehrere tausend Zugriffe.
Thomas
Hagi: 43
John
Yowan: Over 40.000
K.
(female) Rosier: "unknown"
Peter
Turnham: 10.000
9) How
many hours did you overall work on it?
Up to
five hours ( )
Up to
twenty hours ( )
Up to a
hundred hours ( )
More than
a hundred hours ( )
Björn
Heil: More than a hundred hours
Daniel
Rüd: More than a hundred hours
Helmut
Zenz: More than a hundred hours
Thomas
Hagi: Up to twenty hours
John
Yowan: Up to a hundred hours
K.
(female) Rosier: Up to five hours
Peter
Turnham: More than a hundred hours.
10) Are
you constantly updating it? Yes
( )
No ( )
Björn
Heil: Yes
Daniel
Rüd: Yes
Helmut
Zenz: Yes
Thomas
Hagi: Yes
John
Yowan: Yes
K.
(female) Rosier: No
Peter
Turnham: No
11) How
often do YOU visit it?
Daily
( )
Weekly
( )
Monthly
( )
Infrequent
less than monthly ( )
Björn
Heil: Weekly
Daniel
Rüd: Daily
Helmut
Zenz: Daily
Thomas
Hagi: Weekly
John
Yowan: Daily
K.
(female) Rosier: Monthly
Peter
Turnham: Infrequent less than monthly
12) How
did you create it?
A friend
programmed it ( )
A
professional site designer created it
( )
I chose a
preset and added my personal content ( )
I created
it with a web-authoring tool (Frontpage, etc.) ( )
I
programmed by per hand (HTML etc.)
Björn
Heil: I created it with a web-authoring tool (Frontpage, etc.)
Daniel
Rüd: I programmed by per hand (HTML etc.)
Helmut
Zenz: I created it with a web-authoring tool (Frontpage, etc.)
And: I programmed by per hand (HTML etc.)
Thomas
Hagi: I created it with a web-authoring tool (Frontpage, etc.)
John
Yowan: I created it with a web-authoring tool (Frontpage, etc.)
K.
(female) Rosier: I programmed by per hand (HTML etc.)
Peter Turnham: I
programmed by per hand (HTML etc.)
13) How
did you promote it (several ticks possible)
( ) I added it to search engines
( ) I informed my friends about the
address
( ) I added the address to public link
areas (of communities etc.)
( ) I signed guestbooks to get attention
( ) I did nothing to promote it
Björn
Heil: I informed my friends about the address.
Daniel
Rüd: I added it to search engines.
I informed my friends about the address.
Quote: "Suchmaschinenoptimierung: u.a. Linktausch & Linkkauf ;-)"
Helmut
Zenz: I did nothing to promote it
Thomas
Hagi: I informed my friends about the address.
John
Yowan: I added it to search engines
I informed my friends about the address
I signed guestbooks to get attention
K.
(female) Rosier: I did nothing to promote it.
Peter
Turnham: I added it to search
engines.
14) Did
you ever add a text or picture on your site which you later removed because it
was “too private” to be published? Which?
Björn Heil: no
Daniel Rüd: Hatte in meinem Steckbrief mein
Geburtsdatum stehen. Habe dort nur noch den Monat und das Jahr stehen, da diese
Daten missbraucht wurden um bei eBay Accounts auf meinen Namen anzumelden und
dort eBay-Kunden zu betrügen. Strafanzeige wurde von mir gestellt. Das genaue
Geb-Datum ist zwar weiterhin nachvollziehbar, aber nur durch mehrere Klicks
(z.B. Fotos von Geburtstagsfeiern).
Helmut Zenz: no
Thomas Hagi: Ich stelle grundsätzlich keine
Personen, welche mir bekannt sind, in meine Webseite ... Nein. (Anm. I think he got
the question wrong.)
John
Yowan: no
K.
(female) Rosier: no
Peter
Turnham: no
15) Which content do you
prefer on your site? (several ticks possible)
( ) poems
( ) private texts and stories
( ) my own paintings
( ) photos
( ) holiday
( ) hobbies
( ) culture (music, films, books, …)
( ) presenting my family and friends
( ) presenting my personal affectations
(favourite dish, colour, etc.)
( ) presenting my favourite links
( ) information on an intellectual topic (e.g.
scientific themes or research projects)
( ) presenting entertaining and amusing facts
of my life
( ) other:
____________________________________________
Björn Heil:
( x ) Private Texte und Geschichten
( x ) Photos
( x ) Hobbies
( x ) Meine persönlichen Vorlieben
präsentieren (Lieblingsessen, -farbe, etc.)
( x ) Meine Lieblingslinks
( x ) die Darstellung unterhaltsamer oder
amüsanter Fakten aus meinem Leben
Daniel Rüd:
(X) Private Texte und Geschichten
(X) Photos
(X) Hobbies
(X) die Darstellung unterhaltsamer oder
amüsanter Fakten aus meinem Leben
(X) andere: Informationen zur Ausbildung und
Prüfung des Fachinformatikers in der Fachrichtung Anwendungsentwicklung (IHK)
Helmut Zenz:
( x ) Hobbies
( x ) Kultur (Musik, Filme, Bücher, …)
( x ) Meine Lieblingslinks
( x ) Informationen über intellektuelle
Themen (bspw. Wissenschaftliche Themen oder Forschungsprojekte)
Thomas Hagi:
(X) Photos
(X) Urlaub
(X) Hobbies
(X) Meine
Lieblingslinks
John
Yowan:
( x )
private texts and stories
( x )
photos
( x )
hobbies
( x )
culture (music, films, books, …)
( x )
presenting my family and friends
( x ) presenting
my favourite links
( x )
information on an intellectual topic (e.g. scientific themes or research
projects)
( x )
presenting entertaining and amusing facts of my life
K.
(female) Rosier:
( x )
poems
( x )
private texts and stories
( x )
photos
( x )
hobbies
( x )
culture (music, films, books, …)
( x )
presenting my favourite links
Peter
Turnham:
( x ) photos
( x ) hobbies
Affix A) Questionary
American Version
1) Was it
a thrilling feeling to upload it the first time? Yes (
) No ( )
2) Did you get feedback merely from your friends or from people all over the
world?
__________________________________________________________________________
3) How
frank would you reckon yourself when you are with your friends? (I choose a
Likert-Scale with seven itemns.)
very
frank 1( )
2( ) 3(
) 4( )
5( ) 6(
) 7( )
very uncommunicative
4) How
frank would you reckon yourself when you are in a community of foreign people?
very
frank 1( ) 2(
) 3( )
4( ) 5(
) 6( )
7( ) very uncommunicative
5) Did
you ever gain negative experiences with your homepage? Which?
__________________________________________________________________________
6) How do
you personally regard the space you created on the web? (several ticks
possible)
Like a
visiting card ( )
Like the
front of my house where people who are passing by take a short look into my
window ( )
Like a
living room where I welcome friends ( )
Like my
private room where I put pictures on the wall (
)
Like a
studio where anyone can take a look upon my private art ( )
7) How
long has your site been on the web? Since ______________
8) How
many people visited it ____________
9) How
many hours did you overall work on it?
Up to
five hours ( )
Up to
twenty hours ( )
Up to a
hundred hours ( )
More than
a hundred hours ( )
10) Are
you constantly updating it? Yes
( )
No ( )
11) How
often do YOU visit it?
Daily
( )
Weekly
( )
Monthly
( )
Infrequent
less than monthly ( )
12) How
did you create it?
A friend
programmed it ( )
A
professional site designer created it
( )
I chose a
preset and added my personal content ( )
I created
it with a web-authoring tool (Frontpage, etc.) ( )
I
programmed by per hand (HTML etc.)
13) How
did you promote it (several ticks possible)
( ) I added it to search engines
( ) I informed my friends about the
address
( ) I added the address to public link
areas (of communities etc.)
( ) I signed guestbooks to get attention
( ) I did nothing to promote it
14) Did
you ever add a text or picture on your site which you later removed because it
was “too private” to be published? Which?
__________________________________________________________________________
15) Which
content do you prefer on your site? (several ticks possible)
( ) poems
( ) private texts and stories
( ) my own paintings
( ) photos
( ) holiday
( ) hobbies
( ) culture (music, films, books, …)
( ) presenting my family and friends
( ) presenting my personal affectations
(favourite dish, colour, etc.)
( ) presenting my favourite links
( ) information on an intellectual topic (e.g.
scientific themes or research projects)
( ) presenting entertaining and amusing facts
of my life
( ) other: ____________________________________________
Thank you
for answering these questions. Please send back this questionary to sroth@klangnetz.de
German Version:
1) War es ein aufregendes Gefühl, als Du sie
ins Internet gestellt hast? Ja ( ) Nein (
)
2) Hast Du ausschließlich Feedback von Deinen Freunden bekommen, oder von
Leuten aus der ganzen Welt?
__________________________________________________________________________
3) Wie offen schätzt Du Dich selbst ein, wenn
Du mit Leuten aus Deinem Bekanntenkreis zusammen bist?
sehr offen
1( ) 2(
) 3( )
4( ) 5(
) 6( )
7( ) sehr verschlossen
4) Wie offen schätzt Du Dich selbst ein, wenn
Du mit einem Kreis aus fremden Leuten zusammen bist?
sehr offen
1( ) 2(
) 3( )
4( ) 5(
) 6( )
7( ) sehr verschlossen
5) Hast Du jemals negative Erfahrungen mit
Deiner Homepage gemacht? Welche?
__________________________________________________________________________
6) Wie würdest Du persönlich den Platz
beschreiben, den Du im Web geschaffen hast? (Mehrfachnennungen möglich)
Als Visitenkarte ( )
Als Vorderseite meines Hauses, wo Menschen,
die vorbeigehen, einen kurzen Blick in mein Fenster werfen können ( )
Als Wohnzimmer, wo ich Freunde und Bekannte
empfange. ( )
Als mein privates Zimmer, in dem ich Bilder
an die Wand hänge ( )
Als Atelier, wo jeder sich meine privaten
Kunstwerke ansehen kann ( )
7) Seit wann steht Deine Site im Web? Seit
______________
8) Wie viele Menschen haben sie bisher
besucht? ____________
9) Wie viele Stunden hast Du insgesamt daran
gearbeitet?
Bis zu fünf Stunden ( )
Bis zu zehn Stunden ( )
Bis zu einhundert Stunden ( )
Mehr als einhundert Stunden ( )
10) Aktualisierst Du die Site immer noch
ständig? Ja ( )
Nein ( )
11) Wie oft besuchst DU sie?
Täglich (
)
Wöchentlich (
)
Monatlich (
)
Seltener als einmal monatlich ( )
12) Wie hast Du sie erstellt?
Ein Freund hat sie programmiert ( )
Ein professioneller Designer hat sie kreiert
( )
Ich benutze einen Wizard mit Voreinstellungen
und fügte meinen persönlichen Inhalt hinzu (
)
Ich benutzte ein Web-Autorenprogramm
(Frontpage, etc.) ( )
Ich programmierte sie per Hand (HTML etc.)
13) Wie hast Du Werbung für Deine Site
gemacht? (Mehrfachnennungen möglich)
( )
Ich fügte sie zu Suchmaschinen hinzu
( ) Ich informierte meine Freunde über
die Adresse
( ) Ich ließ sie in öffentliche
Linklisten aufnehmen (von Gemeinden etc.)
( ) Ich signierte Gästebücher, um
Aufmerksamkeit zu erlangen
( ) Ich habe sie nicht promotet
14) Hast Du jemals einen Text oder ein Bild
auf Deine Site gestellt, dass Du später wieder entfernt hast, weil es Dir zum
Veröffentlichen “zu privat” erschien? Welche(n/s)?
__________________________________________________________________________
15) Welche Art von Inhalt bevorzugst Du auf
Deiner Site (Mehrfachnennungen möglich)
( )
Gedichte
( )
Private Texte und Geschichten
( )
Meine eigenen Bilder und Zeichnungen
( )
Photos
( ) Urlaub
( )
Hobbies
( )
Kultur (Musik, Filme, Bücher, …)
( )
Meine Familie und Freunde vorstellen
( )
Meine persönlichen Vorlieben präsentieren (Lieblingsessen, -farbe, etc.)
( )
Meine Lieblingslinks
( )
Informationen über intellektuelle Themen (bspw. Wissenschaftliche Themen oder
Forschungsprojekte)
( )
die Darstellung unterhaltsamer oder amüsanter Fakten aus meinem Leben
( )
andere: ____________________________________________
Danke für die Beantwortung meiner Fragen.
Bitte senden Sie diesen Fragebogen an sroth@klangnetz.de
zurück.
Affix B) Email- and Site-List of German Site Owners:
bernhardschaub@aol.com,
dfmaknapwerth@aol.com,
monroe1205@aol.com,
johnerichrohde@aol.com,
uli.frischknecht@web.de,
info@huettencp.de,
Sandra.Wilhelm@sandras-geschichten.de,
juergen-hartmann01@onlinehome.de,
tommi@g-r-productions.de,
moby63@gmx.de,
Fligor@web.de,
Astrid.Gonsior@t-online.de,
Jens.Raacke@gmx.de,
kontakt@danielrued.com,
bh874@web.de,
thagi@hispeed.ch,
michael@uni-hohenheim.de,
c_ipsen@web.de,
elisabeth.fuchs@student.uni-tuebingen.de,
helmut.zenz@t-online.de,
KaiH@NurScheisseImKopf.de,
matzeblume@gmx.de,
mephista81@web.de,
UBurmester@t-online.de,
Baetzel@stud-mailer.uni-marburg.de,
The Adresses johnerichrohde@aol.com,
helmut.zenz@t-online.de and KaiH@NurScheisseImKopf.de did not work, so I tried
to contact those persons via Guestbook or Feedback-Form if their site included
one. M. Kessler didn´t want his email address to be published.
Three of
the German sites were not mentioning an email address. I contacted two of them
via feedback form and one via signing the guestbook. Some pages did not tell
real or full names.
List of German Sites:
Bernhard Schaub
http://hometown.aol.de/__121b_Pd+qOlWlVyYAGBAQbajhCFOeeTochaNoS3IxzK/7SPPlKTNEL/m9zA==
Aloys Knapwerth
http://hometown.aol.de/__121b_NlhbOBLbN4o47tkHhcgJfz0mFLybWaCszvEN5QlgQ9XHjdkL/IIZrA==
Sabine
xy
http://hometown.aol.de/__121b_/ITTJBLyA/l6I9R+SRc9yb75dPFu+EUY
Brummbaer, der Tischler
http://hometown.aol.de/__121b_kIr/sI5O9pXHZ7fkY098bEXahiH836jEQuMq3kE1vgWdhmNAULt/Ng==
Ulrich Frischknecht
http://www.students.uni-marburg.de/~Frischkn/
Claus-Peter Huetten
http://hometown.aol.de/__121b_cp2rzEnH1cOFOUMcz7hQ6zDZQMejYmrkDEXfde9B8B4=
Sandra Wilhelm
http://www.sandras-geschichten.de/
"Sehr geehrte Frau Roth.
Ich gerne eine Ihrer Fragen beantworten, aber ich weiß
nicht, wie ich eine von diesen Fragen ankreuzen
soll. Ich hätte mich sowieso für Frage a entschieden. Bitte seien
Sie mir nicht böse, dass ich mich nicht gemeldet habe. Gruß,
Sandra Maria Wilhelm"
Jürgen Hartmann
http://www.juergenhartmann01.de/
Tomas
Roth
http://www.tommi-pictures.de/
allowed a, b and c
Bernd Irmen
http://home.arcor.de/bernd.irmen/
Florian
Langer
http://florian.faule-schweine.com
Astrid
Gonsior
http://www.astridgonsior.de/start.htm
Jens Raacke
http://home.arcor.de/raacke/
Daniel
Rüd
http://www.danielrued.com
allowed all
answered questionnaire
Björn
Heil
http://www.bjoern-heil.de
accepted a,b and c and
answered questionnaire
Thomas
Hagi
http://t-hagi.ch/
answered questionnaire without allowing or denying participation
Thomas
Numberger (called his page "Biggest Homepage in Germany")
http://www.thomas-numberger.de/
>>> Email per Eingabeformular
M. Kessler
denied a, b and c with the comment that his page ist already very old and he
didn´t want it to be examined
Michael Breyer
http://www.uni-hohenheim.de/~michael/
Christiane
Ipsen
http://www-nw.uni-regensburg.de/~.ipc01848.8.stud.uni-regensburg.de/
David
Wessel
http://www.davidwessel.de/
>>> Email per Eingabeformular
Helmut
Zenz
http://www.helmut-zenz.de/helmut.htm
accepted a, b and c,
answered questionnaire
Heiko Aslanoglu
http://wrstud.urz.uni-wuppertal.de/~sa0010/
>>> Email per Gästebuchanfrage
Kai Niederhagen
http://wrstud.urz.uni-wuppertal.de/~ea0717/
Kerstin Dirksen
http://www.geocities.com/kedistern/
Ulrich Burmester
http://www-stud.fh-kempten.de/~uburmest/
Saskia
Betzel
http://www.students.uni-marburg.de/~Baetzel/
Email- and Site-List of American Site Owners:
CA.Steier@comcast.net,
ptthome@club-internet.fr,
hfdesgn@aol.com,
John6@cableone.net,
missk@cc.gatech.edu,
racsper@hotmail.com,
racer041987@yahoo.com,
andy@eyeing-eternity.com,
vampireslayer930@hotmail.com,
Christa@quadgirls.com,
kari@trustinjesus.net,
NikkiF610@aol.com,
fire@vallnet.com,
fallon_angel@hotmail.com,
guccibabe03@yahoo.com,
ominousguy@yahoo.com,
Seven sites did not include an Email-Address.
Two of them at least had a guestbook and one an additional contact form.
The Addresses guccibabe03@yahoo.com, kari@trustinjesus.net,
fire@vallnet.com, were disabled. I tried to contact them by Guestbook or Feedback-Form
if included on their site.
List of American Sites:
Christoph
Steier
http://home.comcast.net/~ca.steier/
Peter
Turnham
http://ptthome.club.fr/main.htm
answered questionary without allowing or denying publication of his data.
Sarah (no
family name quoted and no email or feedback
possibility offered, so I signed the guestbook)
http://www.matmice.com/home/sezzysarah
Andy
Grider
http://www.andygrider.com/
Olivia
(no family name quoted and no email or feedback
possibility offered, no guestbook)
http://livi.starlitwebs.com/index.htm
John
Yowan
http://myweb.cableone.net/theyowans/johna.html
answered questionary without allowing or denying publication of his data.
Katherine
(no family name quoted, no email, feedback
possibility or guestbook)
http://www.thedarkeneddahlia.com/
"Redefined"
(no name quoted) ... by email contact I
found out that her name was K. Rosier.
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~missk/Frame.html
allowed a, b and c
answered questionnaire
Racsper´s
Word (no name quoted)
http://racsper.tripod.com/
David Lee
http://www.davidlee1987.4t.com/
Jesse (no
family name quoted, no email adress
mentioned, no guest book, )
http://www.freewebs.com/je55e/
Andy (no
family name quoted)
http://www.eyeing-eternity.com/
Sildaekar
(no real name quoted)
http://www.freewebs.com/sildaekar/
Stephanie
Carter (no email address listed, but a contact form)
http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=o0oStephieo0o
Christa
Watson
http://www.quadgirls.com/
allowed a, b and c
Julie W.
(no family name quoted, no email address listed,
but a guestbook)
http://www.geocities.com/smallamusements/home.html
Kari (no
family name quoted)
http://www.angelfire.com/home/kari/
Nikki F.
(no family name quoted)
http://www.angelfire.com/journal/nikkif/
Joey (no
family name quoted)
http://www.geocities.com/red_black_fire/
Jimmy
Fallon
http://www.geocities.com/fallon_angel_17/index.html
Jade (no
family name quoted)
http://www.geocities.com/guccibabe03/countryside.html
I also
received Errors from the Adresses alien.nrw@web.de
and sunshine1990@freenet.de. Two of the Adresses listed above were rediredted
to those adresses. I couldn´t comprehend their original email source.