Assignment 4

Identity and Consumption: Archaeology of a GeoCities Site, 1994–2000

GeoCities was a place where a generation of early internet users created their first web pages. The site, now archived and made accessible through the various projects listed below, is like a time capsule of the moment before social media when people experimented with layout and graphic design and what a website could be used for. For this assignment, you will be asked to explore the neighborhoods of GeoCities and write about a representative site of your choice, focusing on the site’s user creation through the aspects of identity and consumption from the circuit of culture.

Resources

• The Geocities Gallery, a restorativland project. I recommend starting here because this gallery offers the most user-friendly tools for exploring the archive of GeoCities sites, including thumbnail images of the main pages for each site for easy perusing.
• Archive.org GeoCities Special Collection 2009. This is probably the most reliable archive of the GeoCities collection but does not offer the visual interface of the site above.
• The Wayback Machine. Use the Wayback Machine to find and capture images of the site as it appeared to users in the 1990s.
• Oocities.org. Another good archive.

Checklist

1. Choose a GeoCities site.
2. Claim your site of choice on the class spreadsheet (link in the assignment submission form on Canvas, as well as in the syllabus) by Friday, October 18.
3. Find out as much information as is available on who produced the website and who they created it for. Who might find themselves in the content on the site? Whose identity is captured in its information? In the absence of specific details (obviously a lot of web creation in this era was done anonymously), you can turn your attention to analyzing the web design and the tools and aesthetics that the site offers to visitors. Remember that the five areas of the circuit of culture are interrelated, so aspects such as production and representation can be considered part of the site’s intended consumption and identity. You might even find that the site includes a guestbook, polls, or other interactive material that directly engages its visitors.
4. Capture an image of the site using Wayback Machine to use as a feature image. Be careful to follow the image requirements so you don’t end up with an excessively large file. Please feel encouraged to provide additional screen captures in your discussion.
5. Provide links to resources where applicable.
6. Credit images where possible by providing a caption.

Submitting Assignments

All assignments should be submitted as text documents on Canvas and to the blog on the course site. For further instructions on posting to the blog, check out this explainer.

Due October 25 by 5:00 p.m. EST.