Hello All!

For anyone interested in cyberanthropology, online social networking, and new ways of doing social research in this new phase of media, I welcome you to peruse my "webnography" @ www.thevirtualcampfire.org. The elevator pitch:

Based on five years of participant-observation on the social networking sites MySpace, Facebook, and Tribe.net, The Virtual Campfire explores the increasingly blurred boundaries between human and machine, public and private, voyeurism and exhibitionism, the history of media and our digitized future. Woven throughout are the stories and experiences of those who engage with these sites regularly and ritualistically, the generation of "digital natives" whose tales attest to the often strange and uncomfortable ways online social networking sites have come to be embedded in the everyday lives of American youth.

I am especially interested in what you think of my portrayal of Tribe, and am open to all critiques and suggestions. Drop me a line at tunabananas@gmail.com!

Be well,
Jenny
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Jenny
offline Jenny
New York City
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  • MarXaoS
    MarXaoS
    offline 11

    Re: The Virtual Campfire: An Ethnography of Online Social Networking

    Sat, July 5, 2008 - 6:58 AM
    I just scanned it briefly this AM while waiting for the family to wake up and get on the road.

    My first reaction was "oboy a masters thesis pitch" and was prepared to be bored. But I really started getting into it. Initially put off by the anecdotal elements, it drew me in. It seems insightful, and is giving me some perspective. I have been vaguely aware of sites like LiveJournal for years, and more recently read a fascinating article in the New Yorker ("The Online Life:
    Me Media" www.newyorker.com/archive/2...t_cassidy) that helped me understand what was going on. My room mate started getting 'way into it, joining LiveJournal and then MySpace and the FaceBook, all the while encouraging me to get on the bandwagon. It wasn't until my S.O.'s GF pointed me at Tribe that I became truly interested. Not that i am very active here but I like what I see and continue to discover meatspace friends online here.

    I like how you describe Tribe as a place where the alternative types can come to the fore: "marginalized become mainstream". Maybe that's why I am so attracted to it.

    I have bookmarked this and plan to come back to read the whole thing. Nice work!


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    • Jenny
      Jenny
      offline 68

      Re: The Virtual Campfire: An Ethnography of Online Social Networking

      Mon, July 14, 2008 - 7:36 PM
      Thank you kindly for your comments!

      There is certainly something special about Tribe... I continually find myself having serendipitous experiences. For instance, I've been thinking a lot recently of ways in which we can rewrite the cultural scripts that have been so deeply embedded into our collective psyche, how to make new myths for a new era, and then- BAM! I find your awesome blog post that actively does just that- rewrites the scripts ("Old Lies, New Truths").

      Incredible.

      Enjoy reading!
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