Posted by An initial scroll on Restorativland’s GeoCities neighborhoods will present one with a seemingly endless array of topics to choose from and an even larger number of individual sites to sift through. Roughly three-quarters of the way down the site lies a neighborhood titled “SoHo,” a nod to New York’s artistic neighborhood found in lower Manhattan. This 1995 addition to GeoCities centers around “Art, poetry, prose, [and] the bohemian spirit” and contains twenty-five subsections.[1] The “Coffeehouse” subsection is home to the GeoCity titled “The Ivy Realm,” and this site will be the focus of the following analysis.[2] Within The Ivy Realm, visitor consumption is catalyzed from the site’s initial ambiguity that targets one’s subsequent intellectual curiosity by incorporating a simplistic thumbnail and web design, emphasizing the welcoming nature of the site as a place for the author to share her written work and inspire others to do the same, and integrating the author’s personal information as a means of connecting with her audience in order to appeal to a literate and creative audience that finds value amongst art consumption.[3]
At face value, both the thumbnail and the web design of The Ivy Realm are simplistic and give the viewer very little insight as to what this site entails, subsequently creating an air of mystery that entices one to explore its content. The thumbnail is comprised of a boldened black title overlaid on the white background paired with a singular branch of ivy. A visitor’s decision between clicking and scrolling then hinges on an aspect of his own identity: intellectual curiosity. Since this thumbnail gives virtually nothing about the site away to this visitor of the SoHo Coffeehouse community, the only way he will find out about what is on this particular website is by clicking on it and diving into its contents. One is either intrigued by the mystery of The Ivy Realm’s simplicity, or one is bored by it, with the former comprising the population that ends up visiting the site. Regarding the website’s design, it continues with the thumbnail’s tones of simplicity through the continued use of the white background with black font. No images or audio overwhelm the cite, and an absence of color causes the viewer to place more meaning on its written material. This lack of flash per se results in the attraction of a more mature audience that does not require intense visual or auditory stimulation to remain interested in the site’s contents. Additionally, headings are bolded and italicized, and the font throughout the entire page is Times New Roman, the standard font for written work. This particular font gives way to what the site truly functions as: a platform for an author to share her work.
The subtitle of the site is “A Journey Through My Various Worlds,” and this title invites the viewer to partake through this journey alongside the author as a way to form a connection with her, rather than simply being an outsider separated by the para-sociality of the internet. In the author’s explanation of the site’s purpose, she states, “Though it’s still obviously in its beginning stages, my hope is for it to be an impressive collection of stories at some point. I feel rather conceited, posting my own work, but I think it will do me a lot of good to have my work displayed so that I can get feedback on it. So bear with me as I continue construction, and keep in mind that I’m always open to suggestions on anything!”[4] The author’s combination of both confidence in her work and openness to feedback results in viewers feeling welcomed and valued since the author is longing for viewer consumption and analysis of her work. On the center of the page lies the main focus of The Ivy Realm: eight hyperlinked stories, poems, and written works. Five of these works are original pieces by the author and signed by her pen name, “n.e.d.”[5] The other three pieces are “The Locket” by Kate Chopin, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Elliot, and “The Barrell-Organ” by Alfred Noyes, with all of these authors being American or English writers. After each hyperlinked work, the author includes commentary as to why she included them on her story list, with most of the explanations on her original pieces focusing on the inspiration that drove her to write them. When discussing her work “Lilac-Time,” n.e.d. states, “The complete version is 17 pages long at this point and still not finished, so I thought I’d just put in a small piece of it. It’s an interesting couple of pages that flowed out of me really fast at about two in the morning, almost without me having to think about it. That kind of scares me.”[6] Her ability to be casual with the audience helps bridge the divide between the author and the viewer, and this results in the viewer wanting to read her stories since one feels a sense of belonging on this website. The line between author and viewer blurs because this site is unfinished, and as viewer of the art-focused SoHo neighborhood, one is able to relate to both the struggle and the beauty that is found amongst unfinished work. The comforting tones of imperfection that n.e.d. emphasizes on her site helps the viewer to feel safe starting, continuing, or finishing one’s own written work, and as a result, the viewer’s consumption of this site directly impacts the formulation of one’s identity as an artist.
An integration of the author’s personal information amongst the shared stories occurs through the hyperlink attached to the “autobiography” that n.e.d. shares at the end of this section, and this allows for viewers to recognize similarities that they share with the author.[7] While this link does not actually take the viewer to her autobiography, it serves as a placeholder for this future work, and it also introduces n.e.d.’s true identity. This introductory paragraph shares that the author’s real name is “Nora Elizabeth Derrington,” and she was born on “December 15, 1979.”[8] Nora also states, “If I had to describe myself in one word, I would say that I’m a dreamer. I’m originally from Southern California, but chose to freeze in Boston for college — I’m an English major at Boston University.”[9] Since the viewers of her site have an interest in both literature and art, they relate to her feelings of being a dreamer. Additionally, many college students used GeoCities as a way to network and share various types of information, so this aspect of Nora’s identity furthered viewer consumption by appealing to the experience that college-aged individuals had with this form of technology. Furthermore, on the “Links” section of the homepage, there is a hyperlink that takes the viewer to a list of Nora’s interests and involvements, such as being a college band member, enjoying Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and listening to folk rock music.[10] The transparency Nora has with her viewers, as well as her willingness to share about her life allows for the visitors of this site to feel as though they are included within a community rather than being treated as an onlooker that will simply pass by the site.
The Ivy Realm appeals to potential visitors through targeting their intellectual curiosity of its face value ambiguity by using a minimalistic thumbnail and web design, emphasizing the low-stakes nature of the site as a way to inspire others to find their written voice, and incorporating the author’s personal information as a means of forming a community with her audience in order to build a platform that allows visitors to discover the power of written work and the beauty of creative freedom. Nora’s site encapsulates the artistic experience, and serves as an inspiration to writers who long to find the confidence to share their work with the world. When it comes to art, perfection is not the goal, but rather, it is the growth of one’s techniques as a result of dedication to one’s craft that brings forth significance into a creation.
[1] “The GeoCities Gallery,” accessed October 30, 2024, https://geocities.restorativland.org/.
[2] “The GeoCities Gallery: SoHo/Coffeehouse,” n.d., https://geocities.restorativland.org/SoHo/Coffeehouse/.
[3] Nora Elizabeth Derrington, “The Ivy Realm,” The GeoCities Gallery: A Restorativland Project, May 28, 1999, accessed October 30, 2024, https://geocities.restorativland.org/SoHo/Coffeehouse/1673/.
[4] Derrington, “The Ivy Realm.”
[5] Derrington, “The Ivy Realm.”
[6] Derrington, “The Ivy Realm.”
[7] Derrington, “The Ivy Realm.”
[8] Derrington, “The Ivy Realm.”
[9] Derrington, “The Ivy Realm.”
[10] Derrington, “The Ivy Realm.”
Bibliography
Derrington, Nora Elizabeth. “The Ivy Realm.” The GeoCities Gallery: A Restorativland Project, May 28, 1999. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://geocities.restorativland.org/SoHo/Coffeehouse/1673/.
“The GeoCities Gallery.” Accessed October 30, 2024. https://geocities.restorativland.org/.
“The GeoCities Gallery: SoHo/Coffeehouse,” n.d. https://geocities.restorativland.org/SoHo/Coffeehouse/.
Image Attribution
“Wayback Machine,” Internet Archive, March 4, 2020, accessed October 30, 2024, https://web.archive.org/web/20200801000000*/https://geocities.restorativland.org/SoHo/Coffeehouse/1673/.
Cultural History of the Internet 