By Margaret Wong
Just like the title of the URL, someone is speaking out about his
most private emotions, speaking as if nobody is there except him.
www.nobodyhere.com/justme/
is an impressive expression of oneself. It is very hard to capture
with words what total revolution the modern technology has provided
to the individual existence. A Flash site, the author has used sophisticated
design to give the viewers a nonlinear, yet clear perception of who
he is. Though the site's design is brilliantly captivating, it would
not be as successful if the content were not so personal. This is
by far one of the best uses of the first amendment on the Internet
I have ever seen so far.
The site is simple, yet complicated in the making. It seems to represent
the author's mind, yet at the same time preach the lessons learned
through his life experiences. As if upon the completion of navigating
through his site, one would have gained infinite knowledge of the
author, and also infinite wisdom. In some aspects this setup is both
mysterious and intriguing. An extremely successful object on this
site is the "jump" link. Either from a script, or a function
of Flash technologies, random sites will display when a viewer clicks
on the "jump" button. Simulating the random thought process
of the author; it portrays realism in a way no other media has been
able to provide on the subject of the human mind.
www.nobodyhere.com
is a standout for the personal space on the public domain. It is no
doubt a personal expression, yet it is presented with professionalism.
Lacking the feel of amateur creation, until one delves into the site
did one realize there was nothing being promoted, nothing being sold.
In a sense it straddles the fence of what is public and what is private.
The author is publicly displaying his private emotions. A statistical
service of the site reveals over 60,000 pageviews has taken place
since the site's creation. With statistics flooding in from all over
the world, the site has received more attention than any simple homepage.
There are no advertisements or promotions of any sort. The traffic
must be generated from traditional word-of-mouth, which is a proof
of cross media promotion.
The most important proof, however, stands that a single voice can
be heard even in the face of large commercial media presence, overshadowing
the individual voices. www.nobodyhere.com
is backed by the statistics that it generated considerable traffic
even with its non-commercial content. It speaks privately, and is
being heard publicly. The equality of voice on the World Wide Web
is starting to be realized right in front of us. Though the sophistication
and brilliance of the site might be its reason for success, it is
not out of the reason to believe the private homepage maker won't
express herself just as well, in a voice that will be heard by the
world.