Multiplatform Ethnographic Analysis: Internet Immersions and Field Challenges

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-18.3.2645

Keywords:

virtual ethnography, internet studies, virtual community, social networking sites, multi-platform

Abstract

The last fifteen years have seen the emergence of internet studies. Among the issues and opportunities this raises is the possibility to do virtual ethnography, involving redefinitions of fieldwork: the connections between online and offline relations, implications of technological mediation, and the ethics of such research. In this article, we address an overlooked aspect: multiplatform interactions in social networking sites (SNS).

We conducted a virtual ethnographic study in a community of communication professionals, specifically public relations (CordobaPR) in Argentina. Our results give some insights into methodological debates raised by this type of research. They also illustrate challenges involved in shifting from uniplatform to multiplatform interactions, which imply a growing complexity of exchanges through multiple software layers.

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Author Biographies

Mariana Loreta Magallanes Udovicich, CIECS (UNC y CONICET)

Mariana Loreta MAGALLANES UDOVICICH, doctora en comunicación por la Universidad Nacional de La Plata, es Becaria Posdoctoral del Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (Argentina). Sus intereses de investigación comprenden los estudios sobre producción colaborativa de conocimiento, comunidades virtuales de profesionales y tecnologías de la información y la comunicación.

Agustín Zanotti, CIECS (UNC y CONICET)

Agustín ZANOTTI, doctor en estudios sociales de América Latina por la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, es investigador del Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, y docente en la Universidad Nacional de Villa María (Argentina). Sus intereses de investigación comprenden los estudios sobre nuevas tecnologías informacionales, bienes comunes y acción colectiva.

Published

2017-07-25

How to Cite

Magallanes Udovicich, M. L., & Zanotti, A. (2017). Multiplatform Ethnographic Analysis: Internet Immersions and Field Challenges. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 18(3). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-18.3.2645

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Section

Single Contributions