Native on the Net by Kyra Landzelius

Author:Kyra Landzelius [Landzelius, Kyra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Anthropology, General, Media Studies
ISBN: 9781134501809
Google: m1h_BAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2004-11-15T04:39:54+00:00

Notes

1

Elkins is concerned mainly with the creation of “virtual ethnic communities” through telecommunications, i.e. through television programs with global coverage that can be targeted to specific language and ethnic groups. However, he also mentions email and the internet as facilitating “personal interaction with other members of the community throughout the world” (1997: 148).

2

My research on Tongan participation on the internet was part of a broader project on the Tongan diaspora, focusing on young people and the construction of cultural identities (see Lee 2003). This project was funded from January 1995 to June 1996 by a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Melbourne, held in the Gender Studies Research Unit, Department of History. Further funding was granted by the Australian Research Council in the form of a Postdoctoral Fellowship held in the School of Sociology, Politics and Anthropology (now the School of Social Sciences) at La Trobe University, from July 1996 to June 1999. My involvement with the Tongan History Association (THA) extended my interests in Tongan participation on the internet, when I was the moderator of the THA discussion forum, linked to the Kava Bowl site, from 1998 to 2000. Neither forum is currently active online. I have also followed with interest the emergence of numerous other Tongan sites, and I am grateful to the site owners for their permission to research these sites.

3

Although I am focusing here on participation in internet discussion forums, Tongans have also explored other means of computer-mediated communication, often in association with such forums. For example, two email discussion lists were set up on Tonga Online, which were active for relatively short periods; later e-groups were used, also by Tonga Online. Today it has an email discussion group claiming to have 600 members. For a while, a site based in Tonga, Tongatapu on the Net, generated a newsletter that was sent to an email list, summarizing current news from Tonga and the diaspora.

4

The issue of access is pertinent, and of course it is impossible to gauge accurately how many Tongans actually use these sites, or share and receive information via people who do. The KB was reaching the heights of its popularity while I was conducting my fieldwork in Melbourne, and I was impressed by how quickly word of it had spread. Many young people I spoke with had accessed the KB or other Tongan-oriented internet sites. However, in this paper I do not assume that all, or even a majority, of Tongans have access to the technology and skills required to participate regularly in discussion forums like the KB.

5

Included on the Planet Tonga site are a “spotlight” section that describes the accomplishments of Tongans, a collection of current news articles about Tonga or diasporic Tongans, featured articles by Tongans, an online phonebook listing Tongans worldwide, and announcements about a range of events such as anniversaries, weddings, graduations, and festivals. The layout for the forums is far more sophisticated than was the KB layout, with information about how many topics have been raised, how many

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