Abstract
In a small, rural village in the West Bank, I stop by an IT4Youth Internet center. A few kids have been invited to try out the center before its grand opening in a week’s time. A group of teenage girls is in the Internet Room. Raucous and excited, they hop from one computer to another to see what each is doing. Next to me is a girl of perhaps fifteen, sitting quietly by herself. She hesitantly interrupts my typing. “Can you help me?" she shyly asks. “What I am supposed to do?" She had been sitting there not daring to touch the mouse or keyboard. I ask her what she wants to do: check her e-mail, read the news, go to a particular site, play games, chat with a friend... After a moment of silence, she asks, “How can I get an e-mail address?" I rattle off some options-Hotmail, Yahoo!, MSN-none of which seem familiar to her. I pull up the Hotmail website, and tell her she can sign up for free by following the instructions on the screen. As I return to typing my e-mail, she interrupts me: “I don’t read English.” I apologize for my insensitivity and search for an Arabiclanguage e-mail site. I pull one up and tell her to follow the instructions. Although I do not mean to be rude but rather being in a rush, I return to my computer. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice her paralysis. I ask her if she is stuck on choosing a screen name. “Well, uh,” she replies, “I don’t read Arabic either.”
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Internationalizing Internet Studies |
Subtitle of host publication | Beyond Anglophone Paradigms |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
Pages | 32-47 |
Number of pages | 16 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 0415956250, 9781135912611 |
ISBN (Print) | 0203891422, 9780415956253 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2010 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Arts and Humanities
- General Social Sciences