Erasing @race

In Beth Kolko’s Erasing @race, Kolko examines the effects of cyberspace on race. Kolko tells of how computer programs use calculated data to build virtual worlds, and many times the data collected does not involve race. Information that can be seen such as age, race, and gender cannot be seen in virtual reality and therefore makes the internet “raceless” and “irrelevant or homogenous” according to Kolko. Some of the negative effects, Kolko argues, of not being able to claim a race is that an “ideal” user is made to fit all characters and therefore makes race “irrelevant or homogenous.”
Kolko argues this claim buy telling of how the “ideal” user character in an interface always seems to be white. The way an interface builds a character is through the use of data entered into a computer by a character’s user. While the interface itself does not ask what race a user is, the Kolko believes the interface does tend to build a “self-replicating and exclusionary category of “ideal” user, in some very particular instances of cyberspace, is definitely a white user.” By putting information about age and gender together with a user’s writing style, interface programs segregate who talks to whom. Even though the program does not ask for its users to declare a race, Kolko believes that race is assigned through interface programs.
It is interesting to see how the internet and computer programs can be used to segregate groups of people. Everyone who uses the internet can be put into some type of category based solely on race, age, gender, etc. I never understood completely what Facebook activity was about until reading this article. Facebook, much like interface programs and RPGs, does not directly ask for its users to declare a race but yet it can construct groups of people.
I feel that the internet or technology for that matter is not designed to be discriminatory against anyone, but rather it can be used for discriminatory purposes. Internet programs such as facebook or video games such as Halo were not designed to oppress or discriminate against others but rather to keep in contact with others and for entertainment. Yes it is possible to search for different races or genders on the internet through sites such as facebook, but is that truly discrimination?