The New York Times reports that InteractiveCorp is introducing a search engine aimed toward African-American people called Rushmore Drive — saying that they want to help minority groups find specific sites more easily. Search results are based on years of data, and IAC hopes to expand this service to other ethnic groups.
I'm not sure what to think about this. If it doesn't have a community feel then I'm curious about how helpful the search engine can be and what the results are. I also can't imagine that this could be better than modifying Google searches. And I am also definitely feeling that this company is walking on thin, controversial ice. What do you say? Would you use a search engine because it and its results were aimed toward your ethnicity?
Ben Sherman
Jasmine Di Milo
Cheap Monday
What would be the difference then from a search engine that doesn't target my ethnicity?
1to be honest, something like this doesn't really interest me as much as it probably should.
2Wow, is this the ghettoization of the internet, or what?
3I would consider this insulting and demeaning.
Why would anyone need this? I certainly don't need an Asian Google. This is silly.
4Wow. Although it may be helpful for finding something like, say, a place that sells specific hair care products or a hair salon specifically geared for a type of hair, its really pointless. Granted, there are people out there that are so pro-black that they would probably love it. But me personally, I'd be searching on there for good music sites, and I would be pissed to find "hood world music" or "bet" as one of my first sources.
I would be equally offended at a latino search engine. Or any other race for that matter.
Effing racism if you ask me.
5Sometimes people go too far with the unneeded.
6wtf that is so dumb. I am black and I would not visit some stupid website like that. Way to separate our society even more.
7Sign me up for the Thai, Scottish, English, North African search engine! Yeah right....
8btw thanks so much for using the word ethnicity and not race. We're all the human race.
Where is the Mexican American search engine?! We're as big as a minority as African Americans.
9I agree with Kaza. People argue that we need to come together more, why create things that just separate groups more?
10I really doubt ethnic people have different search needs, I don't at least
11doesn't make sense to me...I am puertorican and my fiance is bulgarian,..I don't see why would we need different search engines.
12No, I think this just promotes ethnic division and conflict. Race is social construct (although racism is real - there's a big difference!). I think that this just underscores divisions that are socially constructed and which, in turn, engender racism.
It also serves an idea that all people of an ethnicity like a certain thing. Like - who will decide what sites are included in the search engine and which are not? Will someone out there arbitrarily decide that only sites about a certain type of music can be pulled up but not other types?
This is just weird to me. It doesn't feel right.
13It's a completely stupid idea. Wouldn't this just limit what someone can search for to what people assume someone of that ethnicity would apparently want to look up? Great way to stereotype people. It's just a way to encourage unnecessary division and conflict. And as a person who counts as Hispanic (well, technically white sort of), I don't appreciate anyone assuming they know anything about what I would actually want to be looking up.
14Ok so how does my ethnicity have to do with what I like. Is this sort of a way to stereotype? I am Mexican so I must like tortillas and beans. (side bar - I do but you get my point). I see no need for it.
15Why do we need a race based search engine?! Race has nothing to do with looking up a movie or news sites. Ugh, this annoys me.
16um... that kind of sounds racist....
17There has never been a better time for alien encounter as NOW. After all this centuries, years, wars and social troubles - we haven't learned our lesson. We are all the same people, and if aliens would come, we might understand that we are all earthlings
18Then they will just make an alien search engine
19I don't think I've ever had a problem searcing GOOGLE for ethnic specifics. I don't see the need of this specific search engine.
20it's not really a lot different from a SE based on gender but unless it is a portal style site, i'm not sure it will be that great an idea. i'm sure they have done their research and what not, and there are times when i need specific info geared toward brown people like myself, for instance in looking up info on blood pressure meds, breast cancer, skin care or hair care, but i can just do a good search and get the results. but i imagine what they are thinking (i read the article in the paper) is many of those sites geared toward african americans do not show up first or perform well in SEs for general searches and not everyone is tech savvy enough to perform modified searches. that doesn't go for a specific ethnicity as much as it's really generational at this point. i could be wrong but that is my $0.02.
21Only if it helps with transliterated searches. I hate having to type things in Bengali and not getting the right things coming up [do you know how hard it is to search for a hog plum site????]
22No.
23this is dumb. why would each ethnicity need their own search engine. i don't get it
24(Rolling my eyes)...I'm biracial, which site would I use?
25That's dumb!
26completely unnecessary separation of ethnicities.
27i guess i don't see myself as fitting into one "ethnicity", so wouldn't know which one to choose. i really hate those "ethnicity" boxes you have to fill in on various forms. i always put "other" to really screw them over in their counts. ha!
28oh, and "ethnicity" is not just an "other" thing - like so many people would have you believe, like eating ethnic food... but anyway, this division seems to be based on arbitrary separations of skin colour rather than culture, which is really different. i think by saying that search engine is for african american people they are really saying it is for people with dark skin, rather than for people looking up stuff on African culture for people in the states (whatever "african culture" is). ah...i have so many problems with their search engine attempt. what does Rushmore Drive man anyway?
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