We developed a taxonomy based on "purpose" as Orlikowksi and Yates use the term and then set out to consider that web pages might be constructed to serve the following needs listed below--we further subdivided each category into sub-categories. (Not all the sub-categories are represented in this web of nodes given there were only 25 students to do all the work and four of them worked in pairs)

Web sites function to:
1. to promote Social Awareness
charities
political activism

2. to communicate
synchronous
asynchronous - specifically discussion boards
matchmakers -
support groups -
web logs -
MOOS
Personal Home Pages -

3. to conduct research/get help
search engines
encyclopedia
hotlists/directories
FAQs
Online manuals

4. to be educated -
scholarly topic-based
university course web sites
online museums

5. to obtain news
online newspapers
sports websites
travel websites

6. to be entertained
MMORP games
ezines
hypertext fiction
emagazines
"sites with no purpose" /oddball sites
online movies
pornography

7. to shop online
commercial sites
auctions

9. to access resources online
software upgrades, etc.
shared software

What is not reflected in this taxonomy is the percentage of sites which are either entirely or partially commercially-oriented contrasted to the non-commercial sites. While today the commercially-oriented sites predominate, our taxonomy suggests that the Web provides a wide variety of resources as befits our diverse needs.

Overview of project/Home

Other references

Mary-Louise Craven
Associate Professor,
Communication Studies Program, Social Science Division,
York University, Toronto