Interview with Elise Marks Tomek - Part 3

[Internet Brothers] Digital Divas is a fabulous example of web community at its best. Internet Brothers is also very high on the community building philosophy. We're aiming to network with individuals and groups who want to help others achieve success and satisfaction online. What is the history of the Divas, and what does your membership mean to you?

[Elise Marks Tomek] digital divas was founded by dana whitmire in 1997. she had been searching for a group of creative, powerful women with a wide variety of strong computer skills, that was committed to exerting a positive influence on the web. when she was unable to find a group that met her needs, she simply started one herself.

i was accepted into the group a little over a year ago, and i can honestly say that my acceptance was one of the turning points in my career. i became a part of this amazing group of intelligent and creative women, many of whom had desires and ambitions similar to my own — it was so exciting! i had been completely on my own in this thing until that time. i've received so much support and assistance from the members of the group, and i've learned so much. also, my confidence level has increased through the support and knowledge i've been able to offer my diva sisters as well. moreover, it is so nice to have other women with whom to converse about work and issues related to it. none of my close female friends work in the same field as i do, and none free-lance. bless them; they do try to listen to me talk about work, but they drop like flies. i start raving geekily about some aspect of a job that is really exciting to me, and their eyes begin to glaze over ... they don't last long after that.

[IB] Unfortunately women on the web have tended to be stereotyped, some deserved, most not. Motivated individuals such as yourself and the other Divas are breaking the mold and creating new perceptions. In fact, if anything it's the men now who are falling behind.

[EMT] yeah, except for al gore, whom we all know is the father of the internet.

seriously, that is one of the finest compliments i've ever received. i can't say anything more. i'm embarrassed. thank you.

[IB] The Digital Divas support a number of worthwhile Internet causes and principles. Here's your chance to plug the great work the Divas are doing for us all.

[EMT] we, as a group, have made so many worthwhile contributions to the "health" of the internet, i almost don't know where to start. i'm so proud of our contributions, and of the women in the group who have worked so hard and given so much of themselves. i think our greatest contribution has been grey day (at www.greyday.org), an organisation commited to educating the internet community on the issues surrounding artistic property as it applies to the web. all our causes and issues are listed within our website — digitaldivas.com — and the site itself is a useful contribution to the internet community. there are product reviews, helpful articles and tutorials, downloads from our talented artists — even an award offered to those with spectacular sites!

[IB] Your personal webspace is a very fun and entertaining experience. Certainly your vibrant personality has a lot to do with that, but the net in general seems to be developing a different attitude from the sex and violence of mainstream television and film. Sure you can find it on the web too, but it doesn't seem to permeate every production, in fact relatively few. Do you have any thought on why that is? It just seems that the Internet is a happy and homey place.

[EMT] i'd never even thought about this before today, and i'm sure there are many reasons for the differences. i think the primary one, though, is that what you find on the internet is published by a wide variety of people. on the web, there can be as many "productions" as there are people, really. with film and most of television, everything gets filtered up (and dumbed down) through the hollywood food chain — and what we eventually see is created by the same teeny handful of eejits over and over and over and over.

also, i think that quite a healthy portion of what we see and read on the net was created by folks who've always had positive contributions to make, but who did not have a voice with which to contribute until they found this particular mode of communication. it's so thrilling, and comforting, to know that the geeks/the nerds/the sensitive and artistic types/the smart kids finally have a mode of expression and communication.

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"my confidence level has increased through the support and knowledge i've been able to offer my diva sisters ... "

"i think our greatest contribution has been grey day (at www.greyday.org), an organisation commited to educating the internet community on the issues surrounding artistic property as it applies to the web."