Uses of ethnography in image-based virtual worlds

Abstract

Ethnography is a well-established technique in social sciences research, especially in Anthropology. However, the new communication spaces mediated by technology have presented challenges to its application, in the face of deterritorialization, anonymity and registers limited mostly to the written text. This allowed the appearance of various adaptations of ethnography for the online environment, addressing the typical characteristics of websites, discussion forums, social networks, chats, and MUDs1. Nonetheless, the massive online games, known as MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing) strongly incorporate the image in their interactive experience, featuring graphic avatars2, gesture interactions between characters and a simulated experience of the visual world in three dimensions. Moreover, one can see the formation of identities that expand themselves beyond the game by using other online channels and reaching the offline realm. These innovations open new dimensions for the use of ethnography (including visual anthropology) in online virtual worlds requiring adaptations of the existing techniques. We made a review of the main ethnographic techniques applied to the online environment and we discuss modifications that the specific characteristics of the MMORPGs would make in such techniques. We conclude that the imagetic aspect and the ambiance based on the three-dimensional environment of such games in a certain way enable the application of the most classical techniques of ethnography.