A vast sea of cultural contexts

Cultural contexts of most websites are generally pretty specific. For websites dealing with the news the reader must have some sort of knowledge of present conditions in the world, and the cultural contexts of where the article is taking place. For historical websites the viewer must understand what the contexts of that specific time were. For search engines the user must know who or what he is searching for and in what language. Ebaumsworld, and other video based websites, are somewhat different in this regard. They are different because each individual video, picture, or joke has its own cultural context. In many cases though, it is very helpful for the viewer to have some sort of basic knowledge of the context of that specific video. There are a few different ways Ebaumsworld does this.

One major way this website does this is by breaking down all of the different content into separate categories. Videos are broken down into hilarious, extreme, cool, or stand-up categories. This allows you to choose generally what kind of videos you are going to be viewing. If hilarious is chosen the viewer knows that the purpose of these videos is to make him laugh, and will be looking for something funny about that video. On the other hand, if the viewer chooses extreme he knows he will be looking at videos that contain content that wouldn’t be seen on the everyday basis. This could range from incredible stunts to bizarre acts of nature. The jokes, pictures, and games are similarly broken down into categories describing the general context. Click here to see some of these categories.

Another way Ebaumsworld helps you to understand the context of the individual parts of its website is to add some sort of short explanation of what the user will be viewing. With this explanation the user has at least a small amount of prior knowledge about whom or what it’s about, and when or where it’s taking place. This small amount of information can prove very useful in understanding the overall meaning of the media clip. These tidbits of information also help the viewer to decide what he wants to view. The explanation will either grab the viewer’s attention or persuade him to not waste his time downloading that specific media clip. Without this, users could spend hours searching through the archives of Ebaumsworld without finding anything they really enjoyed. Since entertainment is the main purpose of this website, easy access to what an individual finds entertaining is important.

I believe that defining a specific cultural context for a website like Ebaumsworld is difficult at best. With the help that this website gives in defining the cultural context of each individual piece of media, it is easier to understand the website. I think that this is why Ebaumsworld, and other websites like it, have become so popular. They have information covering many cultural contexts, and at the same time help the user to understand them.