What is a HOMEPAGE ?
by
Ragna Borries
PSY 409/Dr. James
12/09/95
1. What is a Homepage?
The Homepage can be regarded as an information site. Homepages are
used to communicate commercial, governmental, educational, recreational,
and also personal information via the Internet. Since a Homepage
simply represents the Welcome/Cover page to further websites it can
be characterized as an information retrieval system
offering the visitor an entrypoint to other sites which are connected to
the Homepage. Hypertext format is used to create this
"switchboard" of
interlinked information.
Another image that has appeared in my mind when trying to describe a
(personal) Homepage is that of a living organism. Since the Homepage is
the direct expression of Self, which continously changes and grows, it
too is basically always "in the process" of growing. It is impossible to
claim that a Homepage "is finished", as long as it represents personal
information. Of course, from a business point of view, Homepages can
simply serve as a tool to introduce a product,
and not reveal more
information on its' further development. Therefore, when the product
becomes outdated the Homepage would be considered a "dead site" and most
likely be aborted. Thus it would not be regarded as a "living organism".)
An important part of a Homepage is its' architecture. It consists
of an internal and external part. The internal part represents how well the
Homepage connects to other documents, in respect to the usefulness it
offers to its users (links). The external part the architecture, on
the other hand, refers
to the appearence of the Homepage. The
appearence of a Homepage has become a major factor in the marketing
business (commercial or simply marketing personal information), since a
richness of
backgrounds,
fonts, images, color
variants is offered to a
Homepage builder via the Net.
2. Why are people so involved in it ?
3. How am I involved in it ?
4. What principle of Homepage Architecture would I advertise
?
The appearence of a homepage should be aesthetic. An inviting background
(choose), not too blurry, and
clear writing, and organization of topics are the basic principles of my
preferred homepage architecture. The links' titles should indicate the
main themes that are accessible through this site. Furthermore, it is
important not to promise fantastic findings by creating exagerrated
link names (check for example Alamares" "HOT, HOT, HOT" link) that
sound very exiting, but actually do not convey great findings.
Another aspect that MUST be considered when creating a homepage is: How
long will it take to load?. If a homepage takes three minutes to load, I
honestly don't believe anyone could bear waiting that long-even if the
page is a wonderful piece of art. Today's cyberworld requires us to be fast,
precise, and clear in our thinking. The homepage-architect, then, should
incorporate all of these qualities in his web site.
5. What is the social psychological significance of a
Homepage in society ?
As I have mentioned above, Homepages are used to communicate different
types of information. The boom of the cyberage that is currently affecting
our society shows how willingly people are accepting the new technology.
Why ? The most logical reason for the immense impact of the Web on our
society seems to be that a Homepage, for example, represents the ideal
tool for self-expression. Since visitors are encouraged to leave
messages on the Homepage, instant feedback, thus gratification, is
guaranteed for its' host. Furthermore, Homepages are not yet subject to
censorship. This allows an individual complete freedom in the choice of
the form and the content of their Homepage.
Expression of self through the Homepage allows a person to
introduce their "Home" (personality) to the visitor, without having to
justify anything. This "Home" may express an individual's philosophy of life,
their causes, interests, and can even include a picture of themselves.
When people communicate on an interpersonal
level, it is very important to always give feedback to each other,
and respect each other's opinions. A Homepage does not require this.
Although a Homepage invites visitors to leave a message that will
eventually lead them to engage in personal dialogue with the host, the
Homepage itself only presents information. Since it theoretically addresses
the entire world population, it would be impossible to even try to
respond to everybody's ideas.
Hence, the actual Homepage solely focuses on the presentation of ideas,
not on the active dialogue. The freedom of expression that is offered
through the medium "Homepage" makes it seem logical to me that people are
very interested in this new technology.
My involvement in the cyberworld has only developed within the last
three months during my Psychology class. However, although I have
just recently discovered this new realm of communication, I have managed
to acquire enough skills to build a Homepage, and actively participate
in websurfing. The creation of my Homepage has thaught me how to
overcome the fears and blockages that appeared when having had to
publish my reports on the Web.
Although I am not at all satisfied with the final version of
my
Homepage (I feel another x number of hours would be neccessary before
I could actually call the content and the external architecture of
it somewhat complete!), I do acknowledge that I have
succeeded in creating a website that still is an expression of me.
Since my Homepage almost exclusively contains information (and links) on my
experiences
in the Psychology 409 class, my personal interests, apart from Psy 409,
are somewhat hidden. Only through the
analysis of the external architecture of my Homepage could a visitor gain
more knowledge about my personal likes (estethics, choice of
color/background, choice of images and arrangement).
I do feel that I am very involved in the whole cyber
business. I use e-mail on a daily basis, and I regularly check the latest
Net-magazines. The cyberworld has captured my attention; my
interests in this field reach far beyond the information I have
acquired through the Psychology class. The cyberworld has
definitely cast its' spell on me.
Personally, I prefer a simple,
informative, and clear style for the creation of a Homepage.
Nitsa
McCarthy's Homepage, for example appears
very clear to me. AlthoughLori
Morita's Homepage
is a fabulous piece of art I get distracted by the many pictures,
and the blurry background, when trying to read it. I feel that an
essential part of a homepage is to present to the visitor what kind of
information he/she will be able to retrieve from this document.
Therefore, a few
categories
(links) are useful to guide the visitor to the desired information.
In the music business one often talks of the KISS (keep it simple, stupid)
rule. It appears to me that this rule could serve as a helpful guideline
for the creation of homepages.
As I have mentioned before the major function of a
Homepage appears to be its' ability to transfer information in our
society. Since we have transformed our community into a digital society,
computers and thus the cyberspace have become extremely important.
Through this medium we are now able to relay messages faster and more
direct. Furthermore, the advantage of being able to operate from home
through the use of the World Wide Web (shopping, entertainment,
job opportunities) has lead many people to join
the cyber-enterprise. We have integrated this business in our daily lives,
and thus it appears as somewhat a neccessity to the person who wants
to be connected on an international level.
Moreover, our personal expressions, life-style, family or
professional profile can be related to others through a Homepage.
Certain people might even use this device over-extensively since they might
have the desire to show themselves off. Nobody will be able
to hinder them from developing their "Web-Personality" (which, of course,
could be completely different from their "real" personality).
Having the possibility to create an image of oneself that contains
all desired traits, seems to be an incredible draw-in factor for
new "cybercitizen". Who will ever know, if you really are what you
claim
to be ?
Furthermore, the Homepage for once makes it possible for an
individual to match his/her description of themselves to the likes of
the category of people they are hoping to attract. In this way the
Homepage becomes an important medium to meet new people (although
these cyber-relationships might never move beyond the cyberrealm).
The phenomenon Homepage still can be considered as being in
its' beginning stages. However, for those of us who have had the
great opportunity to experiment with it, it has demonstrated its'
value to the global community, since we are now able to connect
with others from all over the world merely within seconds.
We are entering the stage of transformation in our society, where
it becomes essential to remain open for this new technology that allows
us to explore the world. Homepages, and the entire World
Wide Web, serve as the ultimate medium to this new dimension.
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