Scope and Interpretation of Internet Ethnography

Apologies for the late (late!) posting.

Last week's (i.e., Nov 15th) readings from internet inquiry, written by Christine Hine and Shani Orgad, respectively, were notably relevant to my peer review of Deborah Wheeler's “Information (without) Revolution? Ethnography and the Study of New Media Enabled Change in the Middle East” - I sure do wish I had read them ahead of my review! In my review I criticized Wheeler for how she both explicitly and implicitly set her study's boundaries (which Hine touches on in relation to ethnographies involving the internet) and more specifically I took issue with Wheeler's unjustified choice not to involve herself with online aspects of the culture she was studying (a choice all internet ethnographers must consider and which Orgad talks about at length). To a certain extent reading Hine's and Orgad's pieces simply added their voices to the common assertions I was reading in other sources, namely that most ethnographic study in media-saturated cultures requires that attention be paid to online contexts and that in general all ethnographic study relating to internet use should involve observation of/participation in online exchange. On the other hand, both articles go into deeper, more methodologically-based rationales for these opinions, and Orgad in particular provided more in-depth consideration of what factors contributed to choosing a blend of online and offline data, as well as how these data should be considered in relation to each other.

"Interpretive flexibility"

I actually really liked the Christine Hine chapter, which I think I did a disservice to by reading online. I like the idea that the chapter combines science and technology studies with ethnography. It's interesting to think that even a supposedly "concrete" issue like whether or not a bush pump works can be highly contextual based on what "role" the pump is playing in your life. I think a central point of the article is summed up in the idea that ethnography is thought of as a researcher studying social situations "on their own terms" yet highlighting the necessity of a "highly reflexive process" when writing. I suspect (although what do I know) that this reflexivity is one of the hardest things to come by as a researcher. In fact, when I was going through articles for my peer review, it was often one of the key things that seemed to be missing. Reflexivity is difficult even when  you're aware of the NEED to be reflexive, as I discovered last week while trying to work out the "assumptions" I'd made when designing my unified command centre for INF 1003. Assumptions are difficult identify, and to that end it seems very important to have another party involved-yet-distant from the process. Or at least I am finding that to be an important part of designing my research.