Genres and the Web - is the home page the first digital genre?

Abstract

Genre conventions emerge across discourse communities over time to support the communication of ideas and information in socially and cognitively compatible forms. Digital genres frequently borrow heavily from the paper world even though the media are very different. This research sought to identify the existence and form of a truly digital genre. Preliminary results from a survey of user perceptions of the form and content of web home pages reveal a significant correlation between commonly found elements on such home pages and user preferences and expectations of type. Results suggest that the personal home page has rapidly evolved into a recognizable form with stable, user-preferred elements and thus can be considered the first truly digital genre.