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| Author: Posted: Nov. 17, 2002 | This Page Viewed: 3,839,660 |
Question of the Week: 87 - 12/1/2002 The Pagan Web 2002... Your likes? Dislikes? No other spiritual paths have embraced the web as dramatically, quickly and extensively as the Pagan communities [Link] have done. So here we are some 8 years later... What do you look for in a Pagan Web site? What brings you back? What are you tired of? What is missing? Do you believe that the noise to signal ratio is out of whack? Too much chatter? Too Little? What changes have you observed? What trends have you noticed? What do you see for the future of the Pagan web? NOTE: Mean spirited attacks against specific Pagan Web sites will be promptly removed. |
| Reponses: There are 50 responses posted to this question. | Reverse Sort |
| Likes/Dislikes | Dec 2nd. at 9:17:23 pm EST |
| Lilac (Alberta, Canada) | Age: 14 - Email |
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Some of the things I like about the Pagan web is that there's a lot more information out there. Through the WWW, pagans are begining to have a voice to speak to the public, and amoungst ourselves we have raised many interesting perspectives and new ideas. Of course, the cons are the fluffy sites. 'Over a million pagans were burned. Ain't that sad? So, anyway, the love spells...' Also the amount of general misinformation that you have to wade through. But over all, I like how the Pagan web is progressing, personally. |
| Hey | Dec 2nd. at 7:48:58 pm EST |
| Dawn (Iowa) | Age: 19 - Email |
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Well you can't bitch to much about the so-called fluffys. Truth is truth. People where killed for their beliefs but its not like we are the only religon that it has happend to: Puritans, Quakers, Witnesses, Jews...the list goes on. So why bitch about something that is passed. Learn know move on. Hopefully history won't reapet itself. The only thing I get a kick out of is the black wearing Jewlry covered look at me I am a witch attitude. If that is your personality fine. But don't do it just because thats what you think Wiccans are. BB |
| I Love Sites That Respect Others. | Dec 2nd. at 3:22:20 pm EST |
| Argon (Ringe NH) | Age: 26 - Email |
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Preachy sites are the ones that I spend little to zero time at... They only attrack those that think like them, yet they critcize all that don't think like them. Borrrrrrrrring. Mostly I like web sites that are alive and fresh. If I site goes stale and doesn' update itself at least weekly, I never ever go back. MOST of the Pagan web is like this and never updates. Sad but truth. |
| Opinion | Dec 2nd. at 1:46:58 pm EST |
| Danielle & James (Tx) | Age: 21 - Email |
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Well, there are too many "fluffy" sites out there that profess the most unorthodox of things. I.e: Pagans HARM NONE. Wiccans were burned in the inquisition, blah blah. But where there are "unfluffy" sites, the "fluffs" all go and sign up their guestbook with "you're not a real pagan" junk. So the pagan web, in my opinion, is trash. |
| Diversity | Dec 2nd. at 11:33:54 am EST |
| Hearthstone (Michigan) | Age: 40 - Email |
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I'm especially happy with the increasing number of sites which are not oriented toward Wicca or witchcraft. The web has been a great resource, albeit one of varying quality, for Wiccans and witches, and I'm very happy to see that it is becoming the same for pagans of other sorts. There are some excellent heathen and reconstructionist websites out there (and, of course, some not-so-great ones :)) and the number is growing. It's great that folks who are searching for a spiritual path or religion now have a wider information base to draw on. As for what I look for in general? - A web design that's easy to read (no tiny print or impossible purple-on-black text), without too many slow-loading images, and I must admit that I do find it distracting if there are too many mispellings or typos, or if the grammar is terrible (you don't have to be an English major, but a spellchecker and a bit of proofreading can go a long way :)). - Content is important, particularly original content; if I've seen it somewhere else before, I won't be back. And, of course, outright plagiarism is beyond the pale. - Frequent updates are nice if it's a site for which timely information is important. - I enjoy sites which are, to some extent, interactive (thus my fondness for this section of The Witches' Voice, and for the message boards at Beliefnet) but only if it's done well. Not every site needs a message board! - Finally, I like sites that offer something unique--information on an aspect of Paganism that hasn't been covered elsewhere, a new angle on a known topic, etc. |
| My Thoughts On The 'Pagan Web' | Dec 2nd. at 8:27:29 am EST |
| Beth Laurel (London, UK) | Age: 24 - Email |
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Over the past years, I've been a practicing pagan and a budding anthropologist. One of the things I've looked at through fieldwork is the roles the internet holds within a specific community. Some of these are on my like list. Similarly, some of the things that have come up in my conversations with those whom I was working with have popped up on my dislike list. My Like List: 1. Community. The 'web,' and the internet as a whole, provides an amazing way to form a cohesive community. Many of us are spread out across countries in small pockets, where being what we are (countercultural) is not particularly welcome. Defining oneself as a witch always has its negative responders. The internet, and the web, have provided ways of screaming "I'm here" into the wilderness and getting a reply instead of an echo. It is our way of shouting back, "Me too." Friendships have been formed and broken based on some of the information posted on web sites, web logs (blogs), bulletien boards, and live journals. Real conversations have been held, lives and loves shared, and perhaps our lonelinesses alleviated for a short span of time. 2. Creativity - The web may give ideas to people as to how they might want to do things, but it often just gives them a jumping off point - a starting model to work with rather than starting from whole cloth. Rituals have been written based on someone's idea - in Iowa a coven found a website from Canada, based on the teaching of someone from the UK and modified a ritual they found there, to pass on to others. It's also one of the last great forums of the independent poets, authors, songsters and artists. For those whose subject is not considered socially acceptable, this is a wonderful outlet of talent and voice. 3. Communication - We (pagans, neo-pagans, druids, witches) are all part of a greater community to some degree - whether we like it or not. Sometimes there are nasty things being said - calling one another "tree huggers" or "crystal wavers" or "pretentious" - and that saddens me. I do, however, understand that when people feel they are in a position of weakness, it often seems wise to strike out at those around you. However, one of the very things I like about the 'net - and mostly the web - is it allows us to get a better glimpse of other traditions that we may never have been exposed to otherwise. Perhaps sometimes they can be comfusing, or even contradictory, but they are always enlightening and often lead to new paths of exploration. 4. Cohesiveness - one of the things that has amazed me about the new uses of the web are the abilities of a group that is seperated by distance to create a cohesive community and Tradition. Songs are shared, rites are compared, and community actions are planned. That astonishes me. If we could learn to tap this sort of community spirit, can you imagine what we could do? Blessed Be, Beth Laurel |
| What I Like | Dec 2nd. at 8:11:18 am EST |
| Arial (London, UK) | Age: 21 - Email |
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It's simple... I book sites that show an interest in the surfer. It's pretty obvious on most sites by what they speak on this main page. Sites that want to sell sell sell are everywhere. I also agree that chatter sites are private clubs so mostly I just lurk. I don't like preachy sites or ones that are ugly. |
| Books Are The Basis | Dec 2nd. at 4:28:16 am EST |
| Hippie2u2 (Netherlands, Utrecht) | Age: 26 - Email |
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Most of the time I do a search for sites afther reading a book I liked. I then have names to search on. Makes it all a lot more specific. To find a very informative site is still hard. The most value is in plundering the favorite list of friends. So it's not always needed to find that needle in the haystack yourself. |
| Good Question | Dec 2nd. at 1:42:19 am EST |
| Perrin (Hades) | Age: 26 - Email |
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Blessed Be, I have looked at numerous web sites over the last few years, and found that there are two basic sites, the first devoted purely to money, and the other kind, like this one, devoted to research, and people. The merchant sites will probably never change, but on occasion they should. Group oriented sites should change in character with the merchant sites. I do think that sometimes these two groups work together, perhaps to boost sales, or "consumer Confidence". Personally I think that should not happen, but it does. If I had a web site similar to this one, I would use a green, or maybe a red background, instead of this hospital white you're all so fond of. Other than that I would not require Email addresses from our fellow practicioners, or the occasional visitor. I might also throw in a section that had some media of our events, video tapes of a soltice celebration, weddings, funereals, that type of thing, but then thats' just me, you obviously have other more mundane ideas. Blessed Be, Perrin {l} l l |
| What I Like Is..... | Dec 1st. at 11:31:29 pm EST |
| Autumns_Embrace (Duluth, Minnesota) | Age: 30 - Email |
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I like the caring and informative nature of this site... I feel I can trust the information I recieve here... I use this site as my own newspaper... I have learned a lot since my few weeks of coming to this site... I have also found other links to stores that I can get my wares from... I'm sorry... but since I'm a full time employee, wife, and mother of three without a car I can't get out to the woods as often as I like... Not to mention thet nine months out of the year it gets cold enough to crack an engine block out there... Indoor circle here I'm afraid... also, the only shop up here in this town closed... and this town has a church on every corner ... very conservative... not a lot of out spoken pagan/ wiccan groups here... When I visit this site I feel like I'm not a lone with my thoughts and beliefs.... and there is a possiblitly of connecting out there... Thanks Witchvox... and keep up the great work.... Goddess Bless.... |
| I'm Tired Of How To Sites | Dec 1st. at 11:03:39 pm EST |
| Eskarina (Toronto) | Age: 25 - Email |
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They're a dime a dozen. I'd like to see something along the lines of trouble shooting. If you run into a problem somewhere you get a whole load of "you must be evil, evil, evil because your results aren't picture perfect." That goes for *books* too. I can't take someone seriously if they don't even so much as anticipate a problem anywhere. It sugggests they're mocking Ritual and magic. |
| I Come Here | Dec 1st. at 8:52:07 pm EST |
| Cec Thomas (Warwick, RI) | Age: 37 - Email |
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I like the balance and caring nature of this site. Sorry but I measure all other sites against witchvox. Many try to copy it, no one has come close yet. I agree Pagan online shops are only out to trick me for my paycheck. Pagans are greedy just like everyone else. I don't need them or their stuff. I get my stuff in the forrest. |
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