[Air-L] virtual ethnography

[laetitia le chatton]

Hi,
Rhiannon wrote

"I expect "thick descriptions" and substantial verbatim comments  
covering a range of participant experience, not a few illustrative  
snippets.
I think there is an assumption that because the field  is "virtual,"  
anyone (grad students and profs alike) can try their hand at it  
without the training required to prepare for "real life" fieldwork"

  I felt a bit concerned by this statement. I wanted to say that we  
coul interpret this as a bit elitist. I went to ethnography for online  
health communities because most of the research focused either on  
empowerment of patients, either on on the absence of control of these  
dangerous discussions about health. I aimed at escaping such normative  
views , and I was not  searching for simplicity or  simple snippets. I  
think ethnography constitutes mor for most of us a way to  escape  
preconceptions, rather than an accessible virtual field. It may be the  
reason for having such discussions about definitions and methods.  I  
have read Manul Boutet's work and his use of graphs comes from a deap  
understanding of what "community" means for gamers. Anyway, that was  
just my thought,

Sincerely,
Laetitia