Conclusions

This review of the content of national portals is an attempt to better understand the cultural variations of these portals and to comment on their design. We analyzed the contents of 26 national portals and mapped our findings unto the dimensions of cultural variability as presented by Hofstede. The detailed results have been discussed above. Both convergence and divergence forces were clearly apparent. The national portals all look very much like Yahoo! and often offer remarkably similar directory headings and other links. Now that these formats have been established, it may be difficult for newer forms to emerge even if they are more culturally appropriate. Nevertheless, we find evidence of divergence, where national portals are customized to fit at least some cultural characteristics.

National portals, and indeed the Internet itself, are relatively recent phenomena. By collecting data at this point and building an archive of portals, we can continually monitor developments within both cultures as well as the convergence and divergence that work across cultures.