cybergrrl! A Woman's guide to the World Wide Web [Paperback]

Aliza Sherman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 1998

You're here! That means you've at least started to discover life online. But if you still are in the dark about a lot of what's going on here . . . or you know someone who still thinks the Internet and the World Wide Web are too hard, too expensive, and too dangerous then Aliza Sherman (aka Cybergrrl) can help. In language free of technical jargon, she answers your most perplexing questions. From simple concepts to complicated functions, this unique book tells you exactly how to go online without hassle or confusion. Inside you'll discover:

...The difference between the Web and the Internet
...Easy ways to get online that dont cost a fortune
...Real stories of how the Internet has changed women's lives
...Great career and business opportunities available on the Net
...Valuable resources online about health, family, and home
...The proper way to chat online and what posting means
...The truth about online stalking, harassment, and pornography
...And much more!

Open up your mind to the possibilities that going online can bring to you at your job, your home, and in your everyday life. Let the Cybergrrl show you how easy it is to get online and how to get the most out of being there!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Aliza Sherman, a.k.a. Cybergrrl, has made it her mission to make more women comfortable with technology and active online. To that end, she's written a book for every woman who's ever considered connecting to the World Wide Web, even if her only experience with a computer is seeing one on somebody else's desk. Those with any computer experience at all will probably want to skip over elementary paragraphs here and there. But computer novices will appreciate that Sherman assumes almost no computer knowledge beyond the difference between a keyboard and a monitor. Better yet, she returns to the basics throughout the book so that readers who prefer to skip around to different topics can avoid confusion no matter where they start to read.

Although the book focuses primarily on the World Wide Web, Sherman doesn't ignore the rest of the online world. She provides an introduction to electronic bulletin boards, e-mail, Gopher, FTP, and commercial online services. She also addresses the myths of cyberspace hazards, providing safety tips, information on handling online pests, and ways to filter out objectionable material. Her explanatory material is non-jargonistic, clear, and sensible.

As Sherman gets deeper into what's available in cyberspace, the emphasis on women's interests grows. She offers frequent examples of the benefits of online life, told in the words of women who've experienced them. These include making friends, socializing when housebound, making professional connections, finding mutual support, exchanging information on social causes, and much more. Particularly interesting are the interviews with several of the Web's female pioneers. There's also a mini-directory of Web sites of particular interest to women, featuring topics as diverse as health, parenting, investing, sports, career, social causes, and literature.

From Publishers Weekly

Web-site creator and marketer Sherman, chosen by Newsweek magazine as one of the "50 people who matter [the] most on the Internet," presents this guide to help women and girls gain greater access to the Internet. Sherman herself initiated "the first search site for women's websites and information online called Femina at http://www.femina.com." Writing under her "online alter ego" Cybergrrl!, she provides a wealth of information for novice Netizens covering such basic topics as accessing the World Wide Web, e-mail, chat, safety tips, Netiquette and the necessary surfing hardware and software. One chapter is devoted entirely to girls, while several are concerned with issues of special interest to women, such as forums for expectant mothers and networking with other women. The irony of this successful effort to bring the Net closer to females is that the information here is basically generic, of virtually equal use to males. Those who get past the corny title will find this handy manual to be a great resource. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st edition (January 27, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345423828
• ISBN-13: 978-0345423825
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,113,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

[[Who Is She?]]
Aliza Sherman is a Web pioneer, mobile strategist, and social media innovator and commentator. She speaks around the world and writes about Internet, social media, the intersections of social and mobile, and women's technology and business issues. Aliza specializes in making technology more accessible to humans. Her mobile consultancy, Mediaegg, provides strategy and app development to businesses and nonprofits.

Named by NEWSWEEK as one of the "Top 50 People Who Matter Most on the Internet," Aliza continues to explore new technologies and their impacts on our work and lives.

[[Book Credits]]
She is the author of nine books including:
Mom, Incorporated (Sellers Publishing, Sept 2011)
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Crowdsourcing (Penguin, July 2011)
Streetwise Ecommerce (Adams Media, 2008)
The Everything Blogging Book (Adams Media, 2006)
PowerTools for Women in Business: 10 Ways to Succeed in Life and Work (Entrepreneur Press, 2001)
Cybergrrl @ Work: Tips and Inspiration for the Professional You (Berkeley Books, 2001)
Cybergrrl: A Woman's Guide to the World Wide Web (Ballantine, 1998).

[[Pioneering Work]]
Aliza founded Cybergrrl, Inc. in the early days of the World Wide Web, the first woman-owned, full-service Internet company. She also founded Webgrrls International, the first women's Internet networking group that grew to over 100 chapters worldwide in its first year. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her innovative work on the Internet including the prestigious Avon Spirit of Enterprise Award.

In 1995, she built the first 3 websites for women (Cybergrrl.com, Webgrrls.com, Femina.com), preceding both Women.com and iVillage.com. She is considered the "pioneer" who helped pave the way online and in the new media industry for women.

[[Extensive Press Coverage]]
She has been profiled internationally as well as in U.S. publications such as PEOPLE, USA TODAY, WALL STREET JOURNAL, US NEWS and WORLD REPORT, TIME DIGITAL, and ELLE magazine. She has been featured on CBS News with Dan Rather, CBS "This Morning," Fox "Good Day New York," Lifetime TV's "New Attitudes," and has had frequent appearances as an Internet expert and book author on CNN, CNN-FN, MSNBC, and CNBC. Radio credits include NPR, CBS Radio, Newsweek Radio and numerous local radio talk shows and Internet radio shows.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was a really great book, March 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: cybergrrl! A Woman's guide to the World Wide Web (Paperback)

I'm not a professional reviewer or PR type person.I saw Aliza speak in Montreal recently and she changed my life - I mean it. I read about the book in the newspaper, it was a great review, so I thought I'd check her out in person. I only heard good things word of mouth, too, which made me even more skeptical. I hate hype. But I wasn't the only one who was blown away, totally. She was a very generous person, very funny and real. Not stuck up and not fake in any way. And I read the book in two sittings and learned more from it than anything else I've read about the Internet. I never used computers - ever - but my husband just got one for his business. In 2 days I now know more than he does! (He doesn't believe me of course). I'm a 46 year old woman and I know you don't know me, but this is the truth. I suggest you buy a few books for your friends who aren't online yet - they will be thanking you for it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cybergrrl answers all the questions I was afraid to ask!, January 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: cybergrrl! A Woman's guide to the World Wide Web (Paperback)

I just started an internet-related job. I learned quickly but alot of things got glossed over during training, like terminology, etc. It seemed too late to ask certain questions after I had been there a while. But the Cybergrrl book is such a clear concise explanation of the Internet that I feel totally Net-Savvy now!

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have help/answer book about the internet., January 16, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: cybergrrl! A Woman's guide to the World Wide Web (Paperback)

There is a female friendly world in cyberspace filled with exciting and interesting women and Aliza Sherman will help you to find and meet them with this concise and readable book. Also use this book to quickly discover and locate women's resources from business advice to health issues on the WWW.