Rule 30 of the internet states, among other things, that there are no girls on the internet. The thing with the rules of the internet is that these rules are not dictated by one internet leader, but these rules are norms that someone has put in writing. The history of this particular rule begins in the time when the internet was new and slow. Different sites such as this claims that in those days the internet was a complicated thing, and not a lot of women, and not a lot of men either, had the time and interest to use it. Then somehow the rule didn’t change when the internet did.
Many others have also thought about this rule, for example this woman who have experienced the rule hands on. She also says that the assumption of not being any girls on the internet has influenced her offline life. The interesting thing about this rule is the fact that it seems to only apply to certain formus, chats and online games. I doubt anyone would point to rule 30 on facebook, twitter or a blog. So in reality everybody knows there are girls on the internet, but certain people might want to believe there not being any. Why would they want to believe this? Perhaps the internet is seen as “alone time” and a place to get in touch with other men who is also having “alone time”. That could be why men don’t want to believe in girls on the internet.
Thank you for the blog post. I had heard the rule mentioned, but wasn’t that familiar with it. I also think that you are on to something when reflecting on reasons for this. It is interesting to think of how different spaces are gendered, also places online.