4. The detail of the results

For an analysis of the current results, refer to Appendix 3 (Brief analysis of the results)
 

4.1 Analysis of the evolutions

In order to make an analysis of the evolutions between 1996 and 1998 possible, we first undertook measurements with the same sample of individuals that was used for the C1 study, carried out nearly 3 years ago. On average, the scores have increased slightly more than 600%. That indicates that the universe of reference (all the web pages indexed by AltaVista) has increased in this same proportion. Except for the misspellings (who, once corrected, gave a significant fictional increase), individuals have grown in a quite a homogeneous way and a deviation in comparison with the mean was relatively low (average standard deviation around 250%).

Neverthless, an analysis of the evolution by single categories and cultural groups permits to draw some interesting conclusions.

Table 13 : Evolution of the results per category

In red are the highest values.
In blue are the lowest values.

The category we had called " historical individuals" is the one that goes through the strongest growth and the strongest variances at the same time. It testifies the Internet "mediatization", with individuals such as O.J. Simpson reaching their media peak at the time of their proces, and followed by a low growth - 196% - in next 3 years, (as it had been predicted, in the C1 study). On the other hand, Martin Luther King, that shared the same celebrity score in 1996, today weighs almost 5 times more, with a growth of 925%. This makes him the seventh character in the cyber-celebrity list.

The overall top list marks the slowest growth and the lowest variance. It means that the "established characters" are increasing at the speed lower than the average and in a more homogeneous way. It is a compensatory sign of the mediatization phenomenon. Moreover, it attests the degree of diversity and pluralism of the Internet growth. The sociological clash between an Internet that more and more ressembles the traditional medias ("broadcast" or "push"), and the original Internet (interactive and "pull") is therefore far from being finished. As in every expanding universe, all the particularities of the Internet are increasing at the same time and it is impossible to determine which will have the upper hand. The conflict between a plural Internet that would reflect the great human diversity, and a monolithic one that would reflect the media's will to monopoly, is still as vague as it was in its infancy.

Table 14 : Evolution of the results per group

The Latin individuals had a grew better than the US individuals, that at their turn grew slower than characters coming from the non Latin non US cultures. Although the difference of growth is relatively low (the Latin characters are winning 11,25% if compared with the characters from the United-States over tge period of 3 years), this data underlines the tendency towards the internationalization of the Internet. This movement has started three years ago and it should continue to expand over the following years.
 
 

4.2 Weighting of the cultural groups per category

The results are same as for the 1996 study: where the separation between trade and culture is clear, the Latin cultures put up a good show. In the case of cultural sectors governed by the rules of free market , the US culture is strongly dominating. According to the same logic, the Latin individuals that have penetrated the US market differ from their counterparts coming from the same cultural groups (Céline Dion and Gloria Estefan in the song, Antonio Banderas in the movies).
 

Table 15 : Weighting of the cultural groups per category

It is interesting to note the absolute predominance of the US culture in the categories "movies" and "contemporary politicians", as well as the excellent result of Hispanic cultures in the "visual arts", of Italian culture in the "historic characters", and of the French-speaking communities in the "visual arts" and "sciences". The cultures of Portuguese-speaking countries do still have a low presence if compared with their linguistic weight. The minoritarian Rumanian culture obtained, low but honorable score, just as it did for the language. Among the cultures that were not subject of our research, the English culture was very present in various categories. It is a worthnoting phenomenon, since we have chosen to compare the various cultures of every latin language³ with the culture of the United-States, and not with the other English-speaking cultures.
 

4.3 Evolution since the first measurements

Individuals marked in red were misspelled at the time of the first edition (C1). The mistake had entailed an abnormally low score and, vice versa, a very strong - and artificial - growth at the time of the correction. On this subject, it is worth mentioning that the search engines do not forgive the mistakes: some misprints had slipped in the retranscriptions of individuals of the C1 study on the web page (but the mistake didn’t concern the measurement). When one takes up the same words, AltaVista immediately identifies the webpage and designates it as responsible for the mistakes!

Individuals marked in blue present a statistical anomaly in the growth that can not be explained by misspelling. These cases are commented on.

The percentages of progression written in bold  indicate strong progressions.

The percentages of progression underlined indicate low progressions (and in some rare cases, the regressions).

Table 16 : Sciences - Comparison 98/96

It is difficult to discern a logic behind the deviations in progression, all the more so since some events, (not completely detectable) modify significatly the presence of some names from one year to another. As an example, the anniversary of the discovery of the radioactivity modifies the presence of the Curie, and the death of Jacques Cousteau can be linked to an appreciable progression in his presence.

Table 17 : Philosophy - Comparison 98/96

It seems that contemporary authors have increased more than the classics .

Table 18 : Literature - Comparison 98/96

The abnormally low score of Federico Garcia Lorca in 1996 was due to the bad spelling of the first name (Frederico).

Why did George Sand scored so low in 1996? It is impossible to say from today's perspective. A plausible explanationcould be that the search engines can occasionaly commit mistakes. We had the case of "claude bolling": his name was credited with a very low result (54) during several days. Some weeks later, a new test gave much more reliable score of 538.

The United-States literature generally progresses slowly.

Table 19 : Movies - Comparison 98/96

The abnormal score of Polanski in 1996 was due to the bad spelling "Polansky".

Table 20 : Music - Comparison 98/96

We hope that Mr. Grappelli will forgive us for having misspelling his name in 1996, misfortune he shares with Jean-Philippe Rameau. Classical musicians seem to progress more quickly.

Table 21 : Visual arts - Comparison 98 - 96

The missing of a "t" to Botticelli had distorted his result in 1996.

Table 22 : Song - Comparison 98/96

The Beatles are taking the lead again. Why the score was so low in 1996 (a fact that really intrigued us by then)? Impossible to know today, but the mistake of the engine seems to be the most probable cause. For little quoted characters, the creation of a single website can invoke an abnormal "progression": it is the case for the Dominican singer Sonia Silvestre.

Table 23 : Politics - Comparison 98/96

Leonel Fernandez became, the President of the Dominican Republic, hence the reason of his lightning progression! The low progression of Rabin is owed to an abnormally high score in 1996, because the study was done a few days after his murder. Rule is that politicians who lose the power are progressing less.

Table 24 : Historic characters - Comparison 98/96

As the time passes, the history puts the protagonists on their place: O.J. Simpson and Martin Luther King are not equal anymore. As far as Michel Platini is concerned, he is now more that an ex-football player as he was responsible for the organisation of the last and recent World Cup.

Table 25 : Legends characters - Comparison 98/96

Batman seems finally to have the upper hand on Satanas...And the Italian seducer seems to continue to accentuate his advantage over his Spanish counterpart. In a time when ideologies are vanishing, Don Quixote still remains an important value.

Table 26 : Overall hit parade of two-words individuals - Comparison 98/96

It is necessary to note that, on average, the more famous is an individual, the more slowly he grows. That means that they are leaving more space to the others. This phenomenon distinguishes the Internet from the other medias.

Table 27 : New hit parade of one-word individuals and evolutions

It is necessary to be prudent with these results, as the risks of homonymy of only one word with other proper nouns (Bach) or with the common nouns (madonna, vinci, peel, pasteur) become more probable. The Gandhi’s score in 1996 is a part of some rare and inexplicable anomalies. Mitterrand has an extremely low progression. Camus gets in front of Sartre who loses as much places as Stalin. Finally, changes are relatively low (the mean of the differences in absolute value is very close to 5).

Table 28 : Cybercitizens - Comparison 98/96

The Internet has become an overall media. The advantage of the cyber-citizens is growing smaller. It is the category that grows less.