Grassroots Literacies: Lesbian and Gay Activism and the Internet in Turkey

Appendix A: Interview Questions

APPENDIX A Interview Questions The information in Appendix A was originally written and communicated to the research participants in Turkish. Introductory Information What is your name? What is your cinsiyet (gender)? What is your cinsel yönelim (sexual orientation)? Where are you from? Where did you go to high school? What type of high school did you go to? What year are you in college? What is your major? Which school do you attend? What type of school do you attend (private English speaking, public English speaking, or public Turkish speaking)? How many years have you been a Legato member (intercollegiate mailing list and individual school list)? Where do you live? Who do you live with? Kimseye açıldın mı? (Did you come out to anyone?) Do you have a computer at home? Is this where you access Legato mailing lists and the Web site? 187 188 APPENDIX A If not, where and how do you access the student mailing lists and Web site? Could you describe your, or your family’s, level of income? Do you know any language other than Turkish? Which ones? Interview Questions Could you tell me about yourself? Before Joining Legato through the Internet, could you describe your situation ? What influences did you have around you? Did you have eşcinsel (homosexual) friends? Did you attend any eşcinsel organization’s activities? Joining Legato When was the first time you heard about Legato? How did you hear about it and what did you think? When did you become a member of Legato? How did you become a member? After Joining Legato Could you describe what joining Legato has changed in your life, or how it has affected your view of who you are? Is there any group you frequent since joining Legato? Why that particular group? How has this other group affected you? General Computer Access (Technological and Historical) Do you have a computer of your own? If so, for how long? Which computer programs do you know how to use? How and where did you learn how to use the technology? How old is the computer(s) you use? (Browser version, Java?) Access to Legato Student Mailing Lists How and when did you join the student mailing lists? How did you learn to use this technology? Were there any initial difficulties for you? 189 APPENDIX A How and where do you access the student mailing lists? Are you satisfied with your access? Do you think you would benefit more from the discussion if you had a better computer? How would you get better access? What obstacles are there? Mailing List Use What skills do you need to make good use of the mailing list? Where did you learn these skills? What are the associated challenges for you? How often do you read the messages? Do you read all of them? Why or why not? How often do you post messages? What kind of responses do you get to your posts? Do you get negative responses? How do you deal with them? What do you think of the discussions on the mailing list? Are they beneficial ? If so, in what way? Awareness What were your initial feelings and thoughts about this connection through the mailing list? How did connection through the mailing list change you or your view of yourself or others? How did connection through the list affect or change your ideas about student life and education? How did connection through the list change your relationships with other people? How does reading messages on the mailing list influence your relationship with people offline? What do you think of the mailing list now? Overall Overall, what benefits do you see in computer use (the use of mailing lists) by Legato? Are there any disadvantages? If you were one of the moderators, what would you change or try to do better? Are you a member of other mailing lists? How do you use them? How are they different from the intercollegiate list? 190 APPENDIX A Legato Web Site When was the first time you heard about the Web site? How did you hear about it? What did you think? How often do you visit it? What things do you read there? Do you ever use the chat function on the Web site? If you do, what do you think about it? How does chatting affect your offline activities and interactions with people? What...