Digital Ethnography Research Articles

Visual pedagogy and migration: Using Story Maps for teaching social phenomena

This article examines migration as a complex social phenomenon using innovative pedagogical tools such as Story Maps and virtual ethnography. the study focuses on how these tools enhance the learning process by integrating Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy. Original empirical data was collected from student feedback and reflective exercises, demonstrating enhanced critical thinking and engagement. The study also highlights the challenges posed by technological access inequalities, emphasizing the need for equitable solutions.

The interplay of job embeddedness, collective efficacy, and work meaningfulness on teacher well-being: a mixed-methods study with digital ethnography in China

IntroductionThis study examines the influence of teacher job embeddedness, collective efficacy, and work meaningfulness on the psychological well-being of Chinese teachers. The focus is on understanding how these constructs contribute to teacher well-being through a mixed-methods approach.MethodsA two-stage structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was conducted using quantitative data collected from 406 in-service Chinese teachers. The study also incorporated a qualitative phase involving digital ethnography within online teaching communities to provide deeper insights into teachers’ experiences.ResultsThe quantitative analysis revealed significant positive direct effects of job embeddedness, collective efficacy, and work meaningfulness on psychological well-being, with work meaningfulness showing the strongest effect. The mediating role of work meaningfulness partially explained the relationships between job embeddedness, collective efficacy, and teacher well-being. The qualitative findings supported and expanded upon these results, emphasizing the role of a supportive school community and strong administrative leadership.DiscussionThe results suggest that enhancing job embeddedness, collective efficacy, and work meaningfulness can significantly contribute to teachers’ psychological well-being. These findings provide actionable insights for school leaders and policymakers in the Chinese educational system to foster environments that promote teacher well-being.

Proud to be not beautiful: navigating affects in the rebellious body project of Chinese TuoMeiYi feminism

ABSTRACT In recent years, TuoMeiYi (escaping beauty duty) has emerged in the Chinese digital space as a distinct feminist proposition. Advocating for women to break free from the constraints of beauty, TuoMeiYi feminists strive to redefine what a woman should look like, and actively practice their anti-beauty stance by shaving their hair into buzz cuts. This everyday feminist politics attempts to reclaim women’s autonomy over their bodies by transforming their feminist body into a rebellious project. Diverging from the prevalent media discursive approach in Chinese digital feminism studies, this article examines TuoMeiYi feminists’ explorative body project through the lens of affect grounded in corporeal and phenomenological feminist theories. Using digital ethnography to explore an online TuoMeiYi forum, this article recognizes that pride and shame have been discursively mobilized as pivotal tools to sustain the anti-beauty feminist ideal. Yet, the construction of the proud feminist subject also involves a highly self-autonomous logic that tries to eliminate feminist embodied feelings. In the end, this article argues that it is not ‘feeling good’ but the ‘strange feelings’ that demonstrate the feminist body is neither a docile nor consciously autonomous entity, but a rebellious affective being capable of feeling in unplanned alternative ways.

From “Big White” army to White Paper Protests: China’s gendered pandemic war and feminist interventions

ABSTRACT In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many nation-states adopted militarized measures for rapid containment. China notably implemented extreme and enduring war-like procedures. This study aims to explore the implications of securitizing the pandemic through a feminist lens and suggest ethical and equitable strategies for understanding emergencies and coping with future crises. Employing discourse-based online ethnography, it analyzes social dynamics in China’s “pandemic war,” examining how gender and (in)security are co-constructed and the role of feminist activism within an authoritarian context. This article argues that framing the pandemic as war reinforces a masculinist stance of dominance, prioritizing state stability over human rights and security. State-centric securitization perpetuates state authority, gendered social hierarchies, and structural violence. The exclusionary nature of this approach created new avenues for feminist activism, both online and offline, advocating for marginalized groups, raising social and gender awareness, challenging state narratives, and fostering collective resistance. Drawing lessons from Chinese feminist initiatives during COVID-19, this study calls for alternative crisis responses focused on care, equity, ethics, and collaboration.

Instagram vixens: the racialized sexual scripts of erotic labor online

ABSTRACT Despite growing interest in the ways information and communication technologies shape labor, few studies have accounted for the racialized sexualization of erotic labor. This study examines how Black women exotic dancers deploy racialized sexual scripts in the content they generate on the mobile social networking application Instagram. As erotic influencers, these women engage in multifaceted and multimodal erotic self-presentations both within and beyond the strip club. This article presents data from a digital ethnography of 73 Black female exotic dancers located in the southeastern United States, as well as a content analysis of the digital media files they created on Instagram. The findings suggest four distinct sexual scripts that these Instagram users perform: virtual cover girl, erotic professional, boudoir baddie, and assets model. Findings demonstrate Black women use smartphone and social networking technological features to create presentations of femininity, desirability, and sensuality that simultaneously subvert and adhere to the controlling images that define Western ideologies on race and sexuality. Ultimately, this article argues for the need to account for the social and cultural contexts in which the affordances of networked communication technologies that permeate contemporary erotic labor operate.

Digital Narratives: The Impact of Instagram® on Mothers of Children with Congenital Toxoplasmosis.

Congenital toxoplasmosis leads to severe complications in childhood and presents significant global health challenges. In Brazil, the prevalence of toxoplasmosis during pregnancy and congenital cases ranges from 0.3 to 8 per 1000 live births. The clinical manifestations of congenital toxoplasmosis can include neurological and ocular damage, among other health issues, which place significant burdens on affected families. This study aims to investigate the experiences and motivations of mothers of children with congenital toxoplasmosis who share their journeys on social media, particularly Instagram. A qualitative virtual ethnography was used that explored the content shared by mothers of children diagnosed with congenital toxoplasmosis, aiming to understand how social media aids in their coping strategies and the support networks they create. Fifteen Instagram accounts were analyzed, and twelve mothers participated in in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis revealed three main themes: the initial search for information and support, the evolving role of social media in advocacy and education, and the creation of a supportive online community. This study highlights the potential of social media to provide emotional support, disseminate information, and foster communities among mothers facing similar challenges, ultimately contributing to better care strategies and professional awareness for supporting families dealing with congenital toxoplasmosis.

Fluid Modernity and Virtual Communities: An Analysis of the Popularity of MBTI on Social Media

This paper, rooted in Zygmunt Baumans theory of modernity, examines the formation of virtual communities and the characteristics of liquid modernity as manifested in the widespread phenomenon of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) on social media. As a psychological assessment tool, MBTI has pervaded social media platforms, engendering virtual communities characterized by high fluidity and consumerist tendencies. Through participatory observation and online ethnography, this study delves into the MBTI virtual communities on the "Xiaohongshu" platform, exploring their consumerism-driven formation mechanisms and cultural attributes. In modern society, virtual communities exhibit dynamic stability and structural elasticity, with identity constantly being reshaped and redefined within these virtual spaces. The popularity of MBTI underscores the anxieties surrounding identity in contemporary society and reflects the liquid nature of modern identity formation. Under the influence of technology and consumerism, virtual communities have emerged as a significant social form in modern society.

Ethical and Methodological Considerations in LGBTQ-focused Online Ethnography: A Proposal of a Systematic Review

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people constitute a vulnerable population that requires research about their needs, representations, and challenges. Among the variant research methods, ethnography is particularly effective in understanding participants and their lived experience. The development of information and communication technologies has transformed traditional ethnography research and contributed to the emergence of online ethnography research that holds potential for studying vulnerable populations (e.g., LGBTQ people) and relevant topics. We propose a systematic review to explore how researchers have considered and addressed ethical and methodological issues in LGBTQ-focused online ethnography research. We used the core collection of the Web of Science to search for relevant literature. We crafted the search query based on studies of LGBTQ populations, online ethnography studies, and other data sources like the Homosaurus vocabulary. Two groups of search terms were compiled and used in combination, including population-related terms (e.g., “queer”, “LGB*”, “GLB*”, and “sexual minorit*”) and method-related terms (e.g., “online ethnograph*”, “netnograph*”, “digital ethnograph*”, and “virtual ethnograph*”). In this review, we focus on empirical journal articles using any type or variant of online ethnography to investigate LGBTQ-focused topics. The eligible articles may include LGBTQ people as participants or stakeholders (e.g., LGBTQ staff), or analyze LGBTQ-related content (e.g., YouTube videos). Most importantly, we will analyze the ethical concerns (e.g., informed consent, power imbalance, cultural sensitivity, and beneficence and justice) and methodological aspects (e.g., research design, sampling, recruitment, data collection, data analysis, and roles of LGBTQ people) of these studies.

Embodied memories - exploring memorial tattoos through the lens of terror management theory

Objectives To delve into the phenomenon of memorial tattoos in Israel following the October 7, 2023, massacre, and the ensuing Iron Swords War utilizing Terror Management Theory. Methodology A qualitative approach employing digital ethnography and visual content analysis was adopted to scrutinize 250 war tattoo images sourced from Israeli tattoo artists’ Instagram pages and Facebook groups. Data collection spanned the initial four months of the war, from October 2023 to January 2024. Findings and conclusions The analysis highlights existential anxieties stemming from the massacre and ongoing conflict, which are both reflected and addressed through the tattoos’ content and meaning. Memorial tattoos serve as responses to mortality salience, depicting themes that adhere to the three anxiety-buffer mechanisms proposed by the theory: reinforcement of collective worldviews; enhancement of self-esteem; and seeking continued attachment relationships. Through these mechanisms, tattoo recipients invest efforts in giving meaning to the inconceivable events and their ongoing grief.

El impacto del COVID-19 en la calidad de vida de los latinoamericanos en Nueva Zelanda

Introduction: This research explored how COVID-19 has negatively affected the quality of life for Latin Americans in New Zealand. No study has yet been conducted on this topic. Objective: This is a pilot study that describes the effects of the pandemic on the quality of life of the Latino community in that country. According to the academic literature, the concept of quality of life is broad and encompasses objective and subjective factors. Methodology: This is a qualitative study that used digital ethnography as a methodological approach. In this way, the observation of the participants through Facebook (as digital ethnography) and semi-structured interviews were used as data collection methods. Ten Latin American participants from Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela participated in this study. Participants were recruited through Facebook ads. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data produced by this research. Results: The findings of this study show that COVID-19 has not seriously affected the quality of life of the participants. Conclusions: Despite the fact that CVID-19 has somehow impacted the quality of life of Latin Americans in New Zealand, they think that their current quality of life in that country is positive, happy and pleasant.

Digital Mirrors: AI Companions and the Self

This exploratory study examines the socio-technical dynamics of Artificial Intelligence Companions (AICs), focusing on user interactions with AI platforms like Replika 9.35.1. Through qualitative analysis, including user interviews and digital ethnography, we explored the nuanced roles played by these AIs in social interactions. Findings revealed that users often form emotional attachments to their AICs, viewing them as empathetic and supportive, thus enhancing emotional well-being. This study highlights how AI companions provide a safe space for self-expression and identity exploration, often without fear of judgment, offering a backstage setting in Goffmanian terms. This research contributes to the discourse on AI’s societal integration, emphasizing how, in interactions with AICs, users often craft and experiment with their identities by acting in ways they would avoid in face-to-face or human-human online interactions due to fear of judgment. This reflects front-stage behavior, in which users manage audience perceptions. Conversely, the backstage, typically hidden, is somewhat disclosed to AICs, revealing deeper aspects of the self.

Sexual and reproductive health and digital human rights: a study with people living with HIV and key populations in Vietnam

This study draws from qualitative research conducted using a participatory action framework with 47 young adults who identified as people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, transgender, non-binary, or sex workers in Vietnam. The research objectives were to explore their experiences using mobile phones to access sexual and reproductive (SRH) health information and support and the impact of the digital turn in health on their autonomy, privacy and equality. The research was conducted through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and digital ethnography. The project utilised a participatory action research framework. The research was led by the Vietnam Network of People Living with HIV within the frame of a three-country study, and the authors describe how the network used the findings to advance policy. The paper concludes by proposing participatory action research as a useful methodology for studying human rights and digital health governance.

A portrait of self-regulated musical learning behaviors among rock musicians: Applications in music education

Rock music and Western classical music seem very different but musicians in the two cultures may have enough self-regulated musical learning behaviors in common for concurrent application in school-based music education. In this paper, I describe the self-reported self-regulated musical learning behaviors of seven successful rock musicians, compare their behaviors to those expected in the Western classical tradition, and suggest ways to combine norms from both traditions in effective music education programs. Data are collected through digital ethnography methodology from a series of interviews published in YouTube. Emergent themes in the self-regulated musical learning behaviors of rock musicians include (1) passion for music making, (2) the importance of choice, (3) a need for personal control over learning, and (4) an emphasis on musical composition in daily practice.

La publicitación de los feminicidios de madres buscadoras en México

This article analyzes the publicizing of the femicides of searching mothers from the perspective of sociology of critique. To this end, it tests an actantial model of complaints through a digital ethnography based on public texts, with the purpose of understanding the slow process of configuration of this social problem as a public problem. The work analyzes this type of feminicide, whose execution pattern is related to the field of organized violence, through a strategy focused on the justifications of the actors involved. In this logic, it reconstructs the stories and narratives of the political and social actors involved in the process, describes relationships between experts and victims in the complaint and access to justice, and provides elements for understanding the meaning that social and political actors give to their experiences of this borderline social problem. The article closes with some considerations about the challenges in researching the structural effects of this type of violence in the field of social sciences and multi-localized public action at a national and subnational scale.

Diversity of Eucharistic Ritual in COVID-2019 Context

Discussing diversity in the celebration of the Eucharistic ritual in COVID-2019 contexts, this is a comparative study of CITAM (Christ is the Answer Ministries) Valley Road assembly and St. Andrew’s PCEA (Presbyterian Church of East Africa) in Nairobi, Kenya. COVID-2019 had a great impact on the order of worship in Christian churches across the world. Churches were closed down at times. Whereas CITAM Valley Road administered the Eucharist in the virtual space, St Andrew’s PCEA did not adopt virtual Eucharist and had to wait until the lockdown prohibiting church meetings was lifted. This ethnographic study was carried out in Nairobi County at CITAM Valley Road and St. Andrew’s PCEA over a period of six months from late 2021 to early 2022. The methodological approach taken by the researchers was a blend of ethnography and grounded theology. Data was collected through virtual ethnography, participant observation, interviews, and focus group discussions. Findings from the study demonstrated an emerging trend of administering the Eucharist digitally as the Church in Kenya navigated both continuity and change. The findings also revealed the fact that religious change advances not suddenly, or as a single complete change, but in specific expressions that are local and distinct. The researchers posit that in the PCEA, believers could not imagine themselves administering virtual Eucharist in their homes; in CITAM also some Christians felt that administering the Eucharist in the virtual space was different from when it was administered in the physical space.

Informal Language Learning in Online Interest Communities: A Review of Selected Research Methods

Online interest groups respond to different social and emotional needs of their members. Web 2.0 allows them not only to receive and consume online content but also to participate, create, and share. Thus, these groups can also function as communities where informal language learning can occur naturally or with the help of others. This process and learning experience are worth studying, given the learner’s autonomy and, at times, the collaborative nature of this process. The objective of this article is to reflect upon English language learning in online interest-driven groups, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of selected research methods such as virtual ethnography, grounded theory, and mixed methods. These methods may be helpful for researching informal language learning in online interest communities, as they may enable an in-depth examination and a better understanding of the researched context.

Why do sustainable shared mobility practices not proliferate more widely? Insights from digital mobility diaries

Sharing instead of owning consumer goods should significantly reduce their production and the associated environmental damages. However, this ecological promise has yet to be fulfilled, even in mobility, where sharing practices have become mainstream. This is because the most widespread mobility-sharing practice (free-floating carsharing) has the lowest ecological benefit. This study asks why the adoption of more ecologically beneficial shared mobility practices remains lower, addressing this question through digital ethnography. Using digital mobility diaries for three weeks, 21 respondents documented their mobility practices (including various shared mobility practices and private car travel) by uploading pictures, videos and text notes on a dedicated smartphone application. The data show that free-floating carsharing has proliferated because it can leverage the ‘system of automobility’ as its users are relatively monomodal. Other shared mobility services function well; however, we found that they have not proliferated as widely because the overall multimodal mobility mix (e.g. walking, cycling, public transport, on-demand sharing) associated with this form of shared mobility is highly demanding. Better conditions for multimodal mobility, created through appropriate infrastructure, are crucial for sustainable shared mobility practices to spread. However, space limitations mean this will likely come at the expense of car-centred infrastructure and necessitate its exnovation.

Gus Baha’s Perspective on Religious Tolerance and How the Public Respond

Tolerance in religion practices among different groups or differen religious communities is always important in plural societies like Indonesia. However, the fact shows that many intolarance cases still occur in the country. This study is an endevour to explore the tolerance teaching brought by Gus Baha in his traditional islamic lectures. In addition, the reaction of the public to the teaching was also examined. It adopted a digital ethnography approach employing virtual data as the main sources, including YouTube Video, and the comments of netizen following them. The ideas of tolerance were analyzed thematically, and the comments were classified, following the Appraisal theory (Martin & Rose, 2005). Based on the analysis, it reveals that Gus Baha makes use of old stories involving prophets, the Prophet and his companion as they implemented tolerant practices of daily business and religious matters. The stories there proved upscaled tolerance exemplified by the best models for Moslem communities. The public (netizen) have shown positive responses toward the ideas, as it is proved from their positive emotion (80%), and judgment (74%), meaning they like the idea and agree that they are right. In turn, it is expected that they would practice the models of tolerance in their own daily lives.

To Become an Object Among Objects: Generative Artificial “Intelligence,” Writing, and Linguistic White Supremacy

AbstractThis paper critically explores the implications of generative artificial “intelligence” (GAI) technologies for literacy theory and practice through a case study of the author's use of OpenAI's ChatGPT. The study opens with an overview of recent literature surrounding the pedagogical implications of using GAI with a focus on issues of racial justice, outlining an abolitionist political ecology approach to literacy that extends relational theories of mediation to machine‐aided writing. The framework is then applied to data from a cognitive autoethnography of GAI use over a 6‐month period, which included a digital ethnography of ChatGPT and an extended semistructured “interview” with the GAI chatbot. Racial justice issues were found, especially linguistic and other biases. As such, soon‐to‐be ubiquitous artificial intelligence (AI) technologies require profound reconsideration of the productive value of literacy exploited by GAI, which will inevitably be pursued through an acquiescence or fundamental rupture with the dystopian visions of the technology's creators.

Islamic Piety, Corporeality and Agency: Young Mappila Women’s Dissensus Over the Notion of Ideal <i>Muslimah</i> in Malabar

Occupied with the discourse of legal reformation of the Muslim community since the Shah Bano controversy in 1978, statist narratives of liberating Muslim women from Muslim patriarchy are conspicuous in India. However, Muslim leaders propose internal reforms and expect women to be good mothers. This article analyses the role of traditional <i>ulema</i> in Kerala in shaping the corporeal notions of pious Mappila women. The study also analyses the contestations and multiple discourses among pious young Mappila women toward the <i>ulema</i>’s preaching. The findings of this study are framed through the concept of piety and the embodiment of ethical self by Saba Mahmood and Talal Asad’s notion of Islam as a discursive tradition. Semi-structured interviews, participant observation, digital ethnography with a sample of thirty respondents and secondary sources are the methods used. While the conception of an ethical self and piety among the pious elder Mappila women hinges on the respectful compliance of <i>ulema</i>’s preaching of the qualities of a ‘good <i>Muslimah</i>’, the pious young Mappila women focus on the deliberative aspects of discourses around ‘the good <i>Muslimah</i>’. This has opened up the possibilities of contestation, argumentation, and cross-checking references from the Islamic tradition to pursue a dignified and pious living.