BlackMan Time

Archive for September, 2005

The internet is driven by businesses and individuals who need to find stuff. This means it is technologically driven and sites which make or develop the programs that sustain this infrastructure are laughing all the way to the bank.

Microsoft is one such company.

But there are many others including Yahoo, Google, Amazon, Fastclick and Ebay. Within the top 100 many search engines and/or directories, entertainment sites offering anything from gambling opportunities to interactive sports and of course a myriad of sex sites.

From my own research I would say the most popular sites fall into the following main categories:-

Technology (software, hardware, business, free downloads)
Sex (everything from the deprave to the curious)
News (exclusives, unusual, controversy, graphic images e.g. beheadings, etc.)
Entertainment (e.g. gambling, ringtones, sports, competitions)
Music (MP3s, MPGs, etc.)
Politics (especially around election time)
Humour (great for viral marketing purposes)

Where does a website specializing in hardcore Black topics fit in? Believe it or not we are still trying to define that space. What we do know is that historically Black publishers have not taken up the opportunity offered by the internet.

Of those that do many are of the cultural variety, with others caught halfway between commercial and community (usually non-commercial) focus. Yet there are others who desperately want to be popular.

If popularity is the main aim then it’s simple what any budding publisher has to do: focus on sex, technology and news! Of course there is no formula for success, but that’s another story!

Whichever approach one takes what is clear is that there seems to be a rise in the number of Black sites popping up offering niche products to users.

If this trend continues then maybe the internet will have lived up to its “true democratising medium” title, as it continue to enable even the most humble of ambitions to reach great heights and many people.

Take that big business!