Is this the world wide web?

blakaam_kapow

Idiotic question I know. I promise it's not that I was looking for the kitchen and stumbled in here by accident.
Bear with me and I'll try to put this in a way that doesn't make me sound like a loon with broadband

I have some geeky but harmless interests and I like to keep up with them by reading blogs of one kind and another

So something has been bothering me of recent, on some sites, their creators and what feels like a good proportion of their readers seem to think the site only caters to their specific nationality (even when there is no Earthly reason it should)

Don't get me wrong I understand a site that bills itself as a discussion forum on a particular country's politics or whatever can expect that most of their members will be from that country-But a games site, a movie site?
The amount of times I've seen this is a 'country x website for country x's people' (not meant in a malicious Royston Vasey way just as a matter of fact) astounds me.

Even Wikipedia's discussion pages are filled with arguments centered around how close your own country's perspective is to the unbiased truth (look at the nationality classifications discussions for shane macgowan and Oscar Wilde, or who won the war of 1812 if you don't believe me)

Here's where this gets tricky, please understand I'm not anti-American, I'm not anti anyone (except maybe the bollocks who stole my bike)
I love America some of my best friends

have gone on holiday there and said it was great

But Americans seem to be the worst for this (not exclusively or universally though)

Too much of the internet just seems to be Americans (or whoever) talking to themselves and some even get upset if you try and contribute your own perspective- like the drunk at the bar who you can't turn your back on- (certainly don't try to explain what epic mickey means in Ireland)

What I mean is no one needs a visa to internet surf and if there is a web site written in English I'm fairly certain that Irish, British, American, Australian, New Zealand and other Anglophonic people can and will read it.

The internet was meant to be a medium for the unfettered sharing of knowledge and ideas across the world. At least that's how it was sold to me, though, yeah, I know it had military origins but its civilian now and we don't have to fight some patriotic battle every time we log on.

The response 'if you don't like it, go back where you came from' doesn't work when you're already there. I know that I'm not the only one who deals with this, and I don't want to be called a foreigner in my own home however well meaning.

And if your thinking my life must be pretty good if that's my biggest problem.
Your right.
Besides losing my bike everything is peachy.

But this is the world wide web. Websites don't stop at boarders
And on the internet we are not just citizens of whatever country but participants in a global conversation

So that's my problem.
Though if I'm honest I think its a bigger problem than just mine, but this may just be a rant from some loon with broadband and if it is I'd obviously be the worse person to judge

So, I dunno, any opinions? Solutions?
I've read some of the other threads on this site and you all seem to be clever people. Should we start a campaign? Or at least could someone recommend a good mental health professional?

AMPSound

That is the most entertaining and well written piece I have read in a long time - although I honestly had no idea what you were talking about!

You need to start a blog and get some of that stuff up there!