Page 196 - Culture Technology Communication

Diversity in On-Line Discussions 179

M4, a white American male:

I have decided to let everyone know my thoughts on the class
and report.
You can reply, but this marks my last entry to the listserv . . .

F1, white American female:

Perhaps we should send <the guest lecturer> an e-mail on
behalf of the class, thanking him.

M2, an Asian male:

Hi, everyone.
I mentioned to <the professor> that during the holiday, we
won’t be able to send any messeages since <the university’s>
computers are going to be upgraded. Thus, she granted us to
hand in the report until next Tuesday.
So plan your schedule accordingly.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Here the Asians and female students are offering information and
help to the rest of the class, and present a collective perspective on
the group’s activities.

EXAMPLE 3

F4, an Asian female, shares a news item:

I notice that the list has been awfully quiet. Today I came
across a news item on an on-line version of an Indian busi-
ness daily, which reported that since the government had
lowered import duties on foreign made information technol-
ogy products, including finished goods, the Indian hardware
manufacturers are likely to turn into mere vendors of prod-
ucts made by the multinationals. Before the government
lowered the tariffs, the difference in price between an IBM
PC, for instance, and its Indian counterpart, was 25%. Now,
it is only 7%. The small price difference, manufacturers feel,