These are responses to Guide questions on DECEMBER 3 READING.
What is the author's thesis in this article?
Lisa Nakamura writes about race in an internet community, LambdaMOO. It is not necessary to state your race in the MOO, but people can do so in their descriptions of themselves. If race is mentioned, it is ussually as a stereotype or a parody, not an actual description of the person. People are assumed to actually be white, and the vast majority of people online are white. Introducing race is considered to add unnecessary targets for hostility. Race should not be important to people who are in the MOO, since race itself cannot really be seen online. But race does help define who you are as a person, and 'playing' with your race online "jams the ideological machine" (719).
Jon Stratton describes the globalizing effects of cyberspace. Right now, America is building up the internet, and may have some cultural control over it. But in the quest to spread the internet to other countries, America will not be able to control it. And American culture will no longer be the prominant one online anymore as more countries and cultures get online and inhabit their own spaces on the internet.