By Linda Kim
The internet has opened new venues for communication and access to
unimaginable amounts of information at a faster rate than ever before.
But perhaps one of the greatest things about the internet is its ability
to foster community among people separated by long distances physically,
but close to each other in interests and identity. The internet is
home to numerous communities based on hobbies, careers, and even ethnicity
and culture.
AsianAvenue.com is a community of registered Asian American members
on the internet who can express themselves and find information about
their cultures and perspectives through the website. The site holds
news stories and feature articles about issues and events relevant
to Asian Americans. This is valuable for both Asians, who want to
know more of the things they care about, and for non-Asians, who may
be curious about what issues Asian Americans face. Forums and discussion
boards are also featured on the website so that registered members
can express their views and share their experiences about certain
topics.
On a more personal level, registered users get a free email account,
can create and post their personal webpage on AsianAvenue.com, and
get member rewards in the form of "Member Points" for surfing
the site that can lead to free merchandise. Members can also send
notes to each other or "page" other members (the "pager"
is like AOL instant messaging). There are chat rooms available for
real-time conversations among larger groups of users. The website
also features online games and event postings as well. All these member
benefits and website features are free.
Some additional features that may add to the site are samples of
Asian music through streaming media or downloadable mp3s, reviews
of newly released Asian movies, recipes for different Asian foods,
etc. These things would be interesting for both Asians and people
of other ethnicities to learn about, and this site seems to be an
appropriate place for the sharing of such things.
AsianAvenue.com is actually run and supported by Community Connect,
Inc., the leading publisher of ethnic online communities. It surely
has all the technical ways that this can be an Asian American community
through forums, instant messaging, and chat, but the question comes
to mind whether all kinds of Asians would find this site appealing.
Asian Americans are very varied not only in national origin and generation
but also in identity and assimilation. The interests and concerns
of high-assimilation/low- identity Asian Americans are markedly different
from those of low-assimilation/high-identity Asian Americans. As currently
presented, AsianAvenue.com seems to target young adult Asian Americans.
It would be interesting to make a study of the members who use AsianAvenue.com
and their level of assimilation and identity and how that affects
their interests as Asian Americans.
Nonetheless, being a minority group in the United States, Asian Americans
can highly benefit from the internet and online communities like AsianAvenue.com.
Establishment and building of such communities not only enables the
development of personal relationships between individuals, but it
also establishes a channel for communication and unity that can bring
together the Asian American community for the causes that are important
to them. In addition, different nationalities within the Asian American
community can share about their own culture and traditions through
web communities like AsianAvenue.com and further elevate knowledge
and appreciation for the many different cultures that thrive in the
United States.