Language and the Internet

204 LANGUAGE AND THE INTERNET

structure are shaped by communicative ends, rather than

technological means.

We, as users, cannot add our own links. The best we can do is send
a message to the owner suggesting an extra link. It is then entirely
up to the owner whether to accept the suggestion.
But for any of this to happen, interactivity needs to be built into
the system. This is the only way in which the Berners-Lee dream
can be fully realized:^13 ‘The Web is more a social creation than
a technical one... to help people work together’. Genuine work-
ing together presupposes a mutuality of communicative access,
between site designers and site users. At present, in many cases,
the situation is asymmetrical: we, as Web users, can reach their
knowledge, but they cannot reach ours (or, at least, our questions
and reactions). The authors ofWired Styleissue page-designers
with a blunt warning: ‘Onthe Web, you forget your audience at
your peril.’^14 Fortunately, the warning seems to be being heeded. A
distinctive feature of an increasing number of Web pages is their
interactive character, as shown by the Contact Us, E-mail Us, Join
Our List, Help Questions, FAQs, Chat, and other screen boxes. The
Web is no longer only a purveyor of information. It has become
a communicative tool, which will vastly grow as it becomes a part
of interactive television. Doubtless, the trend is being much rein-
forced by the e-commerce driver, with its ‘subscribe now’, ‘book
here’, ‘e-auction’, ‘stop me and buy one’ character. Web owners
have come to realize that, as soon as someone enters a site, there
is a greater chance of them staying there if the site incorporates an
e-mail option, or offers a discussion forum.

Evolution and management

Because the linguistic character of the Web is in the hands of its site
owners, the interesting question arises of what is going to happen
as its constituency develops. Anyone may now publish pages on

(^13) Berners-Lee (1999: 133). (^14) Hale and Scanlon (1999: 7).