Armenians On the 'Net (Summer 08)

Alexan Yerevanian
yerevanian@ucla.edu

THe World Wide Web, the most raw and uncensored source of information in our day and age, has become an indispensable aspect of almost all our lives. The internet’s influence has extended across the globe and exists in almost every nation and in every language. As you might expect, the top three languages on the internet are English, Chinese, and Spanish. In case you were wondering, Armenian is a long ways behind.

Nevertheless, there is a prominent Armenian presence on the internet. Armenians have established small communities, published articles, posted blogs, and created applications in the name of Armenian culture, language, politics, and community. A quick Google search with the term "Armenian" immediately brings some interesting results.

We might first notice from our search the Armenian presence on Wikipedia and related websites. Over 1000 articles on Wikipedia have been translated into Armenian, brought to you by users such as Sahag and Fedayi. Armeniapedia.org, a website using Wikipedia software dedicated to chronicling all Armenian knowledge, has over 5313 articles on Armenian history, society, culture, food, art, and government.

Although you can type "Armenia" into Google or Yahoo News for instant results, some dedicated websites report on all things Armenian from various sources. One example is groong.com, which accepts emailed submissions and lists recent news and opinion articles daily, offering an international perspective on Armenian news. Other news websites include ArmeniaNow.com and Asbarez.com (which has both an Armenian and English section on their website.)
The phenomena of chat rooms, message boards, and forums have similarly reached out to Armenians. On websites such as www.hyeforum.com hyeforum.com we can witness a congregation of all types of

Armenians from around the world, with all sorts of ideologies. Of course, the raw nature of the internet exposes some surprising Armenian personalities. The internet, being a haven for the most radical-minded eager to express themselves, is also home to many Armenians who preach fascism, communism, and a slew of other radical ideologies.

Of course, Armenians don’t express themselves in isolation. For example, armeniangenocide.com is a message board and forum dedicated to discussion of all things related to the Armenian Genocide, including history and recent events, in which Armenians often cross swords with Turkish and Azeri guests who endlessly debate the history and philosophy behind genocide.

Of course, there are several websites which have digitized a lot of Armenian music and literature havesov.com havesov.com contains a great deal of Armenian music available for streaming. Both traditional music and contemporary music are available, categorized by artist and album name. Hayastan.com hayastan.com also offers a selection of Armenian music. As for Armenian literature, a translation of Raffi’s Khent is already available online at cilicia.com cilicia.com, and armenianpoets.com

Armenianpoets.com is full of classic Armenian poetry. I personally anticipate in the future a Project Gutenberg for Armenian literature, in which thousands of Armenian books will be available for download on demand. For those diasporans who could stand to brush up on their language, fear not. There exist on the internet helpful language tools. nayiri.com nayiri.com is an Armenian dictionary

with a familiar interface. With a total of 17,643 words, its index is far from complete, but it’s certainly a useful start. The websites that I’ve mentioned are just a taste of the Armenian presence on the internet. Since the internet is one of the most powerful tools in this day and age, the Armenian community should embrace the World Wide Web as a means of communication and as an educational tool. The internet allows diasporan Armenians from around the world to share their knowledge and ideologies with each other and to Armenians in Armenia. It allows Armenians to more easily reach out to other cultures and raise awareness of their own. Indeed, I encourage our generation of digital natives and immigrants to share all they can about their culture and heritage with the rest of the world through the internet.

With the internet already geared to promote user- created content, perhaps the new Armenian internet sensation could be you!