5 replies to this topic

[jasminee]

Type in the following [religious] terms on Google search:

Let it snow

Hanukkah

Christmas Lights

Santa Claus



And for a change try typing some of these words below [Islamic terms and festivals] into google:

Hajj

Eid

Ramadan /Ramadhan


What did you see?

It may sound trivia, but isn't interesting?!

[Walter]

[mod deleted: personal attack]

Yes, I am sure Google are anti-Muslim! So anti-Muslim in fact that earlier this year they ran a live broadcast on You Tube (whcih they own) from Jeddah during Hajj... http://googleblog.bl...the-worlds.html

Could watching? Yes, with eyes firmly closed.

[koalaboi]

Hi,

It used to the case that when you typed the word Aboriginal into the Google search bar the intuitive search assist first directed you to Aboriginal jokes which were appallingly racist.

An Aboriginal mate of mine who runs a blog at http://aboriginaloz.blogspot.com/ got in touch with Google. They explained that the intuitive options were due to the number of searches that went that way using that key word. They altered the search engine to deal with that particular issue.

So, the results you get are not so much a problem of the search engine: it's just a machine after all, but rather the people who use it.

KB

[roobarb]

KB - its not the results being obtained but the decorations being added when you search.

Can someone tell me are there any traditional decorations associated with the holidays that Jasminee mentioned?

[lightning]

To me it doesn't mean anything. I don't think the lack of decorations present when you perform a Hajj or Ramadhan search on Google is intentional. Compare it to the fact that when searching for "Kumbh Mela" (which is a Hindu festival) you do not find images of the Ganges river or water or whatever.

Also there are no typical decorative adornments that identify Hajj, Ramadhan or Eid as easily as snowflakes or menorahs identify Christmas-related subjects and Hanakuh.

What would Google put if they were to specially adorn their search results page for Islamic terms? Crescent moons and stars? As a Muslim I would prefer they didn't do that.

[koalaboi]

KB - its not the results being obtained but the decorations being added when you search.

Can someone tell me are there any traditional decorations associated with the holidays that Jasminee mentioned?

I should have looked before I posted!

Sorry everyone.

To me it doesn't mean anything. I don't think the lack of decorations present when you perform a Hajj or Ramadhan search on Google is intentional. Compare it to the fact that when searching for "Kumbh Mela" (which is a Hindu festival) you do not find images of the Ganges river or water or whatever.

Also there are no typical decorative adornments that identify Hajj, Ramadhan or Eid as easily as snowflakes or menorahs identify Christmas-related subjects and Hanakuh.

What would Google put if they were to specially adorn their search results page for Islamic terms? Crescent moons and stars? As a Muslim I would prefer they didn't do that.

+1.

It's like teachers getting kids to draw boomerangs around the borders of their schoolbooks and thinking that they have ticked the Aboriginal perspectives box in their programs.

Is tokenism is worse than being ignored?

KB