"The Internet is Full of Junk (and there's no such thing as 'content')" will discuss the role of user context in determining what is "junk" and what is "content." Although companies and individuals may have defined goals for their web sites, the significance and value of what they post is not determined by them, but by the users. This has profound implications for site design. Sites designed to broadcast content--whether for marketing purposes or for personal edification--will be less useful, and less powerful, than ones designed to facilitate user context. The goal of a site should not be "content," but functionality.

Glenn Kurtz has been teaching and writing about digital media since 1994, when he received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Stanford University. From 1994 until 1998, he taught at San Francisco State Universityıs Multimedia Studies Program, where his courses in ³Multimedia Theory² and ³Emerging Forms in New Media² were among the first in the country to examine the cultural implications of digital technology. He now teaches new media at Stanford University.

Glenn also hosts the NetFuture Forum in San Francisco, a moderated lecture series addressing the social impact of networked technology, with prominent guests drawn from the companies, research institutions, and cultural organizations of Silicon Valley. His articles on digital media have appeared in Artweek magazine and online at Gamasutra, and he is a frequent speaker at conferences, most recently at Web98, the Web Design and Development conference. His consulting clients include Mediapolis, Inc., an internet development company in New York, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
http://www.glennkurtz.com