Olga Taevskaya and Her On-line Magazine WWWoman (For Women and Understanding Men)

 About half a year ago, browsing the Internet in search for the partners for  russianwomenabroad.com, I came across Olga Taevskaya website. I started reading … and stayed at the computer till late at night. The next day I returned to WWWoman again… Very soon I realized that Olga’s concept of her on-line magazine was very close and in tune with my own project. Warm, sincere atmosphere, abundance of the interesting themes and rubrics combined with stable updating of the whole magazine have turned a small personal website launched by Taevskaya in 1998 into powerful Internet-Project, which became very popular among the regular readers as well as professionals.

The history of development WWWoman – is a good example, which can inspire not only the prominent site’s owners, but also those who is just getting ready to start their first personal page on the Internet. In her numerous interviews, Olga tells how she first came in touch with alluring virtual reality: “I first got in touch with computers in 1991, when I was employed by one medical company. From the beginning it was mostly about computers’ games, writing my diploma, composing the documents…” In early 90-s very few knew computers very well (mostly, students and graduates of technical schools). The Internet, itself, had been just born in one of the scientific laboratory. Five – six years later, no self-respective company could manage without PC, and few lucky guys had been enjoying the Internet in their own homes. Olga “got addicted” to the world wide web in 1997: “The whole year Alex (Olga’s husband) and me daily attended Irkutsk’ chat room “Zavalenka” and enjoyed and got upset by virtual communication…” But Olga’s creative nature could not be satisfied by such a passive use of the Internet! Olga started “pushing her smart husband (programmer) regarding a possible way of realization of her ambitions.” Her husband suggested her to start an on-line women magazine.

The first issue of WWWoman came out in May, 1998. It started, like all future issues, by warm welcome: “Hello, my dear…” Olga didn’t’ t have any special, programming education. She had to learn everything “on practice”. In her interview to “Mir Interneta” Olga remembers: “It was a lot of work: to design the issue, find and edit the pictures, respond on the letters, edit received articles, write my own stories, review the Internet, add catalogues of women’s sites, launch a beauty contest… After I added Response service (up to 10 letters a day – I reply at once), club for those who moved abroad, club of independent single women, etc… I had to work 18 hours a day…”

Olga’s hard work resulted in the leading place, which WWWoman occupied in todays Women’s Internet. I believe that her success owes to her deep understanding of the psychology of modern woman: “…woman will never return to her past, narrow interests, the process has begun. Women became very interested in life, especially, the Internet will never let her get bored. She does not want to filled out her life only with home, kitchen, and family interests, she wants to be heard and understood in all Universe. Her “kitchen” and “house” – is the whole cosmos, and the task of every woman in new millennium is to find her own door to this cosmos…”

I invite guests of Russian Women Abroad to open the hospitable door of WWWoman

Natasha Butsenina
Russian Women Abroad