Comments on: Blackbird: I was not waiting for this moment to arise

By: cecily

cecily — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:12:28 +0000

That's a good point, Jay. How is it that we're more technically savvy, but we need a crippled — er — enhanced browser to "improve" our experience?

By: cecily

cecily — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:11:47 +0000

Thanks for the Ad Age link, JennTaFur. It was illuminating.

By: cecily

cecily — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:11:26 +0000

Well said, Prentiss. A browser's just a tool I use to get to the content I want – it isn't the content itself.

By: cecily

cecily — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:10:30 +0000

The difference, Dame Johnson, is that Black Planet was an online community. Any browser can be used to access any online community, so the question remains why anyone would need a "black" themed browser? It isn't adding anything of value, and based on Karsh's review above (read it if you haven't – it's quite detailed), it actually has more limited functionality than other browsers on the market, which can actually hinder a person's access to the web. Blackbird is purely unnecessary.

By: Dame Johnson

Dame Johnson — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:00:30 +0000

Hmmmm…how about BlackPlanet??? Huge success.

By: Prentiss Riddle

Prentiss Riddle — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:43:24 +0000

Reminds me of Girlawhirl, the "toolbar for women": http://prentissriddle.com/blog/?p=40 Personally I see the point in making a culture- or community-specific version of a content-specific tool, maybe even a search engine. However, I don't see a browser as a content-specific tool. A browser is most useful when it efficiently retrieves and displays whatever content I ask it to.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:06:00 +0000

This post is right on the money. And funny too! Thank you Cecily for your succinct style and intelligent humor.

By: Jay Smooth

Jay Smooth — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:16:00 +0000

Damn! I was gonna make a beatles joke when I twittered about this, but yours is better anyway so it's just as well. I'm not mad at the idea of spaces devoted to collecting/connecting Black voices, but I just don't see how this is a useful tool to that end, for all the reasons both you and Tiffany listed. And its presentation, with the RB&G color scheme and "Proud To Be Black Y'all" banners (much as I appreciate any Run-DMC allusion), just feels so dated & obvious... Plus, this bullet point: "Because we know that you are twice as likely to be among the first to discover new trends and use advanced technology compared to the general population." That tells me why they would want to market a product to Black users, but it doesn't tell me why Black users would find the product useful. In fact, to me it suggests Black users are more likely to already have enough web-savvy to make this type of offering redundant.

By: TheJennTaFur

TheJennTaFur — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:28:25 +0000

@cecily – I agree with you 100% on everything especially too since I am African American and I use a Mac.
I also appreciate you comment on @blackweb20's blog about black people who live in one part of the country and another. I have lived in Iowa City (midwest), Atlanta (south) and New York City, Washington, DC (East Coast) and hardly anyone understands where I am coming from at times because of how I understand the different regions of how I have experienced living life there as a minority a a black and as a woman.
My issue with all of this is that if I am going to download and use this browser – will all my actions be recorded and documented as a black person using the web? What internet marketers are going to be spamming me knowing that oh – this lady is at IP address etc. and they are *black* b/c they downloaded the blackbird and I think this new [insert product here] will do wonders for them b/c they are black and I know black people buy, etc.
Did you read this article? Excellent in how I feel and I have to thank @koa on twitter for sharing it with me:
Social Media and the Reality of Minority Markets
http://adage.com/bigtent/post?article_id=132954