1. Virtual Ethnography

2. Virtual Ethnography
“we learn about the Internet by immersing ourselves in
it and conducting our ethnography using it, as well
as talking with people about it, watching them use it
and seeing it manifest in other social settings” Hine
• Investigates the ways in which uses of the Internet become socially
meaningful.
• Can involve different methods: content analysis, analysis of online
interactions and/or interviews with participants
• Considers how the “virtual” and the “real” worlds relate to one
another.
• Should be reflective and reflexive

3. Participant Observation
• The view from the inside
• Accounting for subjectivities
Does lurking count as participation?

4. Thick Descriptions (Geertz)
;)
• Winking isn’t just something your eye does
• It’s culturally embedded
• It’s only the thick description of the context and
culture that lets us understand the role of the wink in
sharing a conspiracy, or even parodying another
sharing conspiracy.
• What ‘the natives’ think they are up to

5. Virtual Ethnography Activity
• Choose an online community to participate in
– YouTube communities (Lucielovesyouu,
Geriatric1927)
– Facebook group
– Online forum
• Engage with the community and contribute
some posts
• Write a thick description for your brief
engagement with this community

6. Things to look out for? Micro-
interactions
 Reciprocity in communication
 coordination of turn taking in conversation
 Communication as ‘gift’ exchange
 Ritualised behaviour
 openings and closings
 Defining the ‘meaning’ of the communicative
space
 What behaviours are allowed/expected/norms
 How are these norms enforced

7. Things to look out for -
ethnography
• Subjective experience
– Your experience of engaging with the community
– Your feelings or expectations associated with
ongoing involvement
– Your relationship to techno-social ideologies
‘making the strange familiar and the familiar
strange‘

8. Feedback Session
What counts as ‘thick’ description?
Reflexivity
• how do your own preconceptions influence your
interpretation/participation?
Reflection and subjective experience
• Time element – how long does it take to become
familiar with online practices?
• Is it possible or desirable to maintain
familiarity/strangeness?

9. References
Garcia, A.C., Standlee, J. B., & Cui, Y. (2009).
Ethnographic approaches to the Internet and
computer-mediated communication. Journal of
Contemporary Ethnography, 38(1), 52–84.
Geertz, C. (1973) "Thick Description: Toward an
Interpretive Theory of Culture". In The Interpretation
of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic Books,
pp. 3-30.
Hine, C. (2000) Virtual Ethnography. London: Sage.