Ethnoblogology - Studying the people who post
On a daily basis I read articles that have something to say about blogs and bloggers. If you are reading this, you have probably read some of the same things: articles that question/compare journalists to bloggers, articles on mining the opinions from blogs in market research, and endless pundit political postings/analysis that seem to attract trolls (from all sides) out of the woodwork. Blogs have been studied and disected from many angles including a seemimgly endless debate on 'what actually constitutes a blog?' and 'what is the history of blogging?' Most of this type of study fits neatly into the field of weblogology or blogology (the study of weblogs). Interesting note: neither of those terms are original, but I cannot locate the source of either.
What seems to be missing are the cultural anthropology studies of life online as a blogger or as a blogger who is part of an online community. I contend that there is a need for a new branch of ethnography that studies an individual (or a community of individuals) in a virtual/electronic presence rather than the traditionally accepted study of living cultures in a more clearly defined, physical, geographical area. For purposes of focusing on the blogger and the culture of bloggers, this subcategory of cultural anthropology should be called ethnoblogology, the study of the people who write in the electronic world of weblogs. An ethnoblogologist would likely be an combination ethnographer and blogger...in essence, an individual who studies the people from within the culture rather than a completely isolated researcher operating independently of the electronic medium. I make that distinction based on the assumption that relationships and networks are critical to the ability to accurately assess what is actually happening in an individual's online life.
All of the above boils down to an effort to find focus in a number of my previous posts that have hinted at the idea of patterns and trends within communities of bloggers...the beginnings of an ethnoblographic study:
- Patterns (or Passages) in the life of a blogger
- Why people blog - and when do you bail out?
- When do bloggers post?
- Institutional Review Board challenges to online ethnology projects
I have no conclusion...only more questions.