The Cultural Significance of Web-Based Exchange Practices Author Fletcher, Gordon Scott Published 2006 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School School of Arts, Media and Culture DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/2111 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365388 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au The Cultural Significance of Web-based Exchange Practices Gordon Scott Fletcher B.A. (Hons) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Arts, Media and Culture Faculty of Arts Griffith University September 2004 2 Abstract This thesis considers the cultural significance of Web-based exchange practices among the participants in contemporary western mainstream culture. The thesis argues that analysis of these practices shows how this culture is consumption oriented, event-driven and media obsessed. Initially, this argument is developed from a critical, hermeneutic, relativist and interpretive assessment that draws upon the works of authors such as Baudrillard and De Bord and other critiques of contemporary ‘digital culture’. The empirical part of the thesis then examines the array of popular search terms used on the World Wide Web over a period of 16 months from September 2001 to February 2003. Taxanomic classification of these search terms reveals the limited range of virtual and physical artefacts that are sought by the users of Web search engines. While nineteen hundred individual artefacts occur in the array of search terms, these can classified into a relatively small group of higher order categories. Critical analysis of these higher order categories reveals six cultural traits that predominant in the apparently wide array of search terms; freeness, participation, do-it-yourself/customisation, anonymity/privacy, perversion and information richness. The these argues that these traits are part of a cultural complex that directly reflects the underlying motivations of contemporary western mainstream culture. The daily practices of Web-based search and exchange thus reproduce and reinforce this cultural complex. The empirical work of the thesis validates the critical assessment of western mainstream culture developed in the initial chapters of the thesis. 3 4 Statement of Originality This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Gordon Fletcher 14th September, 2004 5 6 Acknowledgements A range of people have supported the lengthy process of producing this thesis. It has been a sometimes rocky but always interesting journey but nonetheless one that I am glad to have completed. My first thanks must go to Malcolm Alexander who as my supervisor had the patience and faith in allowing me to bring this thesis to fruition. Malcolm’s generous support in various roles during my time at Griffith University has always been positive and is very much appreciated. I blame Dan Harries for initially setting me on the track that evolved into this project. From the first conversations we had about animating Web pages (the hard way) and changing background colours to discussions about producing a thesis and postmodernism it has always been a learning experience. I also thank my previous supervisors Gillian Swanson and Amanda Howell for maintaining a belief in my capabilities even when I was at my most unproductive. Rosemary Pringle, David Holmes and Phil Cohen have all provided me with direction and understanding at various unexpected junctures of the PhD process. This thesis would be nothing more than a vague set of ideas in my head without the support, conversation, patience, suggestions and sometimes insistence of Anita Greenhill. That is a debt I can never repay. Keith Fletcher helped those vague ideas become more intelligible to others with tolerant attention to my consistent misspellings and bizarre grammar. Aldus and Harland provided me with entertaining excuses to “get off the computer” and helped to define “work time.” I hope their memories of this thesis will ultimately be positive and inspire them in some small way with their own future pursuits. 7 8 The Cultural Significance of Web-based Exchange Practices 1. INTRODUCTION 15 1.1. THE RESEARCH QUESTION AND FOUNDATIONAL ASSUMPTIONS 15 1.2. THE RECENT HISTORY OF THE WEB 26 1.3. RESEARCH AND THEORETICAL CONTEXT 28 1.4. THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH 31 1.5. THE RESEARCH ‘SITE’ 34 1.6. THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS 42 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 51 2.1. CONCEPTUAL AND TECHNICAL DEFINITIONS 51 2.1.1. THE ‘VIRTUAL’ 51 2.1.2. THE WEB 53 2.1.3. THE ARTEFACT 61 2.1.4. CULTURAL COMPLEX 66 2.1.5. TAXONOMY 69 2.1.6. CULTURE 76 2.2. AN ‘OFFICIAL’ HISTORY 80 2.3. MATERIAL CULTURE 87 2.4. STUDIES OF THE ‘VIRTUAL’ 91 2.5. THE IMMATERIAL OBJECT 98 2.6. THE SYNTHETIC ARTEFACT 101 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 115 3.1. TAXONOMIC APPROACHES 115 3.2. UTILISING TAXONOMIES FOR THE WEB 118 3.3. CLASSIFICATORY SCHEMA AND UNIVERSAL DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION 122 3.4. SOCIOLINGUISTIC ISSUES 130 3.5. ‘VIRTUAL’ ETHNOGRAPHIES/ETHNOGRAPHIES CONDUCTED IN THE ‘VIRTUAL’ 136 3.6. SYNTHESIS - ‘VIRTUAL’ TAXONOMIES 155 4. THE RESEARCH ‘SITE’ 164 4.1. TOP 500 SEARCH TERMS: ‘SITE’ DESCRIPTION 164 4.2. DATA AND INITIAL SITE EXAMINATION 174 5. INTERPRETATIVE CONTEXTS 189 5.1. THE ARTEFACTUAL CONTEXTS 197 5.2. THE HISTORICAL CONTEXTS 232 5.3. THE CULTURAL CONTEXTS 244 9 6. INTERPRETATIONS 271 6.1. TYPES OF EXCHANGE 271 6.2. SIX TRAITS OF CONTEMPORARY WESTERN MAINSTREAM CULTURE 277 6.2.1. FREENESS 278 6.2.2. PARTICIPATION 282 6.2.3. DO-IT-YOURSELF / CUSTOMISATION 285 6.2.4. ANONYMITY & PRIVACY 289 6.2.5. PERVERSION 291 6.2.6. INFORMATION RICHNESS 297 6.3. CONTEMPORARY WESTERN MAINSTREAM CULTURE 302 7. CONCLUSION 311 7.1. METHODOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS 312 7.2. THE THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTION 316 7.3. LIMITATIONS OF THIS RESEARCH 323 7.4. POSSIBILITIES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 326 7.5. FINAL OBSERVATIONS 332 8. LIST OF REFERENCES CITED 335 9. APPENDICES 359 9.1. APPENDIX 1: SUMMARY OF THE UNIVERSAL DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION SCHEMA 359 9.2. APPENDIX 2: DATA GATHERED FROM THE “TOP 500 SEARCH TERMS” NEWSLETTER - 2000 - 2001 OLD DATA FORMAT WITH ‘ADULT’ TERMS REMOVED. 362 9.3. APPENDIX 3: DATA GATHERED FROM THE “TOP 500 SEARCH TERMS” NEWSLETTER - 2001 - 2003 NEW DATA AND UNCENSOIRED FORMAT 362 9.4. APPENDIX 4: UNION LIST OF COLLATED AND CLASSIFIED DATA SORTED ALPHABETICALLY 363 9.5. APPENDIX 5: UNION LIST OF COLLATED AND CLASSIFIED DATA SORTED BY UDC ORDER 400 9.6. APPENDIX 6: CHARTS OF WEEKLY DATA OF CONSISTENT PERFORMING SEARCH TERMS 436 9.7. APPENDIX 7: CHARTS OF WEEKLY DATA OF ‘SURGE’ PERFORMING SEARCH TERMS 436 9.8. APPENDIX 8: CUMULATIVE WEEKLY COUNTS OF THE MOST POPULAR SEARCH TERMS 437 10 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: LIME SPATULA FROM THE TROBRIAND ISLAND CIRCA 1913, 39CM LENGTH (TRIBALARTBROKERS.NET/DETAILS.ASP?ITEMID=NGG) 74 FIGURE 2: “TOURIST” BETEL NUT SCRAPER. COLLECTED: KIRIWINA ISLAND TOURIST MARKETS, JULY 1975 75 FIGURE 3: SUBSCRIBERS TO THE “TOP 500 SEARCH TERMS” NEWSLETTER OVER TIME 164 FIGURE 4: TOP LEVEL CLASSES OF ‘SURGE’ SEARCH TERMS (22ND FEBRUARY 2003) 175 FIGURE 5: TOP LEVEL CLASSES OF ‘CONSISTENT’ SEARCH TERMS (22ND FEBRUARY 2003) 176 FIGURE 6: SHIFTING INTERESTS IN THE CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIME CLASS (343) AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL SEARCHES 179 FIGURE 7: WEEKLY SIZE OF SEARCH TERM DATABASE (2001 - 2003) 180 FIGURE 8: TOTAL SAMPLE SIZE FOR THE WEEKLY SURGE TERM LISTS 181 FIGURE 9: SUSTAINED INTEREST IN SEARCH ENGINES AS A % OF TOTAL SEARCHES 207 FIGURE 10: WEEKLY FLUCTUATIONS IN CONSISTENT SEARCH TERM INTEREST. 235 FIGURE 11: WEEKLY FLUCTUATIONS IN SURGE SEARCH TERM INTEREST. 235 FIGURE 12: LONG TERM INTERESTS IN INDIVIDUAL SEARCH ENGINES 238 FIGURE 13: SHIFTING INTEREST IN ‘WEB’ BUSINESSES 241 FIGURE 14: INTEREST IN ‘INFRASTRUCTURE’ BUSINESSES FROM ‘SURGE’ LISTS OF DATA 242 FIGURE 15: INTEREST IN ‘FREE’ AND ANY TYPE OF ‘FREE’ THINGS. 243 FIGURE 16: 900 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF THE CONSISTENT DATA - 14TH SEPTEMBER 2001. 245 FIGURE 17: 90 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF THE CONSISTENT DATA - 14TH SEPTEMBER 2001 246 FIGURE 18: 9 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF THE CONSISTENT DATA - 14TH SEPTEMBER 2001 246 FIGURE 19: 900 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF THE SURGE DATA - 14TH SEPTEMBER 2001 246 FIGURE 20: 90 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF THE SURGE DATA - 14TH SEPTEMBER 2001 247 FIGURE 21: 9 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF THE SURGE DATA - 14TH SEPTEMBER 2001 247 FIGURE 22: AVERAGE % VALUES OF INTEREST IN SECOND LEVEL CLASSES (CONSISTENT LISTS 2001-2003) 248 FIGURE 23: 90 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF SURGE DATA - 21ST OF SEPTEMBER 2001. 251 FIGURE 24: 90 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF CONSISTENT DATA - 21ST SEPTEMBER 2001. 251 FIGURE 25: 90 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF SURGE DATA - 10TH NOVEMBER 2001. 252 FIGURE 26: 90 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF SURGE DATA - 9TH NOVEMBER 2002. 253 FIGURE 27: 90 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF SURGE DATA - 22ND DECEMBER 2001. 254 FIGURE 28: 90 CLASS REPRESENTATION OF SURGE DATA - 21ST DECEMBER 2002. 254 FIGURE 29: INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CELEBRATION AND FINANCE CLASSES (SURGE LISTS) 256 FIGURE 30: FLUCTUATIONS IN THE NEWS (07) CLASS (2001-2003). 261 FIGURE 31: FREQUENCY OF MUSICIANS AND MUSIC FORMS IN ALL THE COLLECTED DATA. 261 FIGURE 32: SHIFTING INTERESTS IN THE 780 (MUSIC) CLASS 262 FIGURE 33: SHIFTING INTEREST IN ACTORS AND TELEVISION PROGRAMMES 263 FIGURE 34: FREQUENCY OF ACTORS AND