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My digital ethnography #6: Taking off the mask

When I asked the Forest of the Moon players why they did it, they gave the following replies (Screen name / Character name[s]):

Being able to be a part of a fun world/idea/plot — more directly than just reading a book — and being able to do something with my tendancy to keep making characters like [...]

My digital ethnography #5: Speaking the lingo

Methodological preambles are far from innocent in the construction of ethnographic authority. The ethnography described in this book is no different. Chapter 4 is there not just to tell you what I did, but to convince you that I did something that authorizes me to speak. Devices such as the technical glossary at the end [...]

My digital ethnography #4: Getting in character

What attracted me to the topic was the level of characterization we see online and how it intersects with the question of authenticity.  In our discussion board RPG at The Northlands (an online community), board members, already ‘hidden’ behind their online identity and screenname create a second (or more) identity in order to tell a [...]

My digital ethnography #3: the rules of the game

The following quotation is the rules for the RPG forum on The Northlands.  They were posted (and are implemented) but our moderator, Red.  To see the rules in their environment click here.

We all have to have rules. I like to think of them as guidelines, to be used with your good judgement. Please adhere to [...]

My virtual ethnography #2: The RPG

This is a slideshow of the RPG that is the focus of my digital ethnography, with caption commentary from me. Please click the link to view the images individually or view as a slideshow if you prefer.  Unfortunately I can’t slow the slideshow speed in the settings, so you will have to do it yourself [...]

It’s tweetin’ ethnographic ‘onest!

Fab video of an animated ‘good morning’ as it is tweeted around the world. I love it, not sure why. Must be that global community thing I belong to. And how I would still like to teach the world to sing (ask Clara, she’ll explain).

http://www.vimeo.com/6239027

Anyway, here is an explanation of how it [...]

Week 6 summary: first thoughts on digital ethnography

I feel like I am getting a little behind (this always seems to happen in the middle of a course) I get distracted by stuff.  Stuff in this case being two rather different things.

Firstly (and this is the good news) my chosen focus for my digital ethnography – role-playing, which means of course I have [...]

My virtual ethnography #1: the arrival story

They [arrival stories] play the crucial role of anchoring that description in the intense and authority-giving personal experience of fieldwork … Always they are responsible for setting up the initial positionings of the subjects of the ethnographic text: the ethnographer, the native, and the reader. (Pratt 1986, cited in Hine 2000 p45)

She arrived at night, [...]