So i mentioned a few days ago how i was going to pilot a research technique which is commonly known as a digital or Online ethnography. This broad term pretty much encompasses any sort of social research that is conducted in 'technologically mediated publics' or, in layman's terms, online. I decided to test out participant observation, specifically spending some time with some WoW gamers who granted me access to watch them.
Although the 2 mini focus groups that we've undertaken so far have been
really helpful, as we're really trying to get the juicey bits of
research about how online gaming takes shape, we believe that spending
time with participants online in game is really the best way of
soliciting such useful material. Last week i spent about 3 hrs over 3
days 'hanging out' on a server in
WoW, following some participants who i had interviewed as part of this
research project a few weeks earlier.
A couple of problems arose from the study, firstly that, quite often, the players, because they were such high level, would venture into parts of the world that I, because i was so low-level, was unable to gain access. Secondly, the group that i was following were not particularly comfortable with my presence and so trying to keep a track of the interactions between the group that i was following was tricky - a lot of the conversations between the guild members were conducted in private channels or via "whispering".
Although this made the whole experience quite frustrating, it was also quite revealing in showing that a lot of the chat between guild members on WoW isn't necessarily about the game, but quite often about real-world - private - things: school, work, friends, whatever. More generally, it reveals how online group dynamics mirror offline group dynamics quite neatly. Looking back at Matt's Six Spaces again, guilds can often act very much like group spaces: clearly defined groups with implicit rules of how to behave and social rules about approving membership.
Instant messanging
As this strategy didn't seem to be working, i decided to engage one of the gamers in conversation over instant messenger, where my presence was less intrusive and more inquisitive. This method was a way of finding out what they had been doing in games (not just WoW) and why. The chats took place for about 30-40 minutes for 3 nights in a row.
This method was useful in exploring where gaming sits within the context of an 'average' day, when certain games are played over others (mainly because of the presence of friends) and what happens in game: chatting, multi-tasking, "levelling up" and so on. It also allows you to compare different days and figure out what might affect the occurance of shared gaming.
However, this method is far from flawless; arranging a synchronous conversation over a period of days is logistically tricky; so attempting to scale this technique may require quite a lot of extra time and probably more than one researcher.
I'm currently debating whether to extend this technique to more participants, but may find the overheads too big. Has anyone else had any joy with digital ethnographies?
A couple of problems arose from the study, firstly that, quite often, the players, because they were such high level, would venture into parts of the world that I, because i was so low-level, was unable to gain access. Secondly, the group that i was following were not particularly comfortable with my presence and so trying to keep a track of the interactions between the group that i was following was tricky - a lot of the conversations between the guild members were conducted in private channels or via "whispering".
Although this made the whole experience quite frustrating, it was also quite revealing in showing that a lot of the chat between guild members on WoW isn't necessarily about the game, but quite often about real-world - private - things: school, work, friends, whatever. More generally, it reveals how online group dynamics mirror offline group dynamics quite neatly. Looking back at Matt's Six Spaces again, guilds can often act very much like group spaces: clearly defined groups with implicit rules of how to behave and social rules about approving membership.
Instant messanging
As this strategy didn't seem to be working, i decided to engage one of the gamers in conversation over instant messenger, where my presence was less intrusive and more inquisitive. This method was a way of finding out what they had been doing in games (not just WoW) and why. The chats took place for about 30-40 minutes for 3 nights in a row.
This method was useful in exploring where gaming sits within the context of an 'average' day, when certain games are played over others (mainly because of the presence of friends) and what happens in game: chatting, multi-tasking, "levelling up" and so on. It also allows you to compare different days and figure out what might affect the occurance of shared gaming.
However, this method is far from flawless; arranging a synchronous conversation over a period of days is logistically tricky; so attempting to scale this technique may require quite a lot of extra time and probably more than one researcher.
I'm currently debating whether to extend this technique to more participants, but may find the overheads too big. Has anyone else had any joy with digital ethnographies?
Leave a comment