Image on Ethnography taken from a Business Week Article
It really IS all about you. That’s what ethnography means, anyway.
In my undergraduate studies, I took anthropology. That’s when I first learned what ethnography was. In that context, they described how ethnographers would go all over the world and observe people in different cultures to understand how they lived, what words and symbols meant what, and how it differed from how we lived and what we prioritized. That could mean gender power (in other cultures, women actually rule), naming, marriage, roles of children, etc. How they learned, ethnographers, was mostly by observation. It was an art, because you wanted to watch enough not to get involved and taint your observations and the authenticity, but you also wanted to be involved enough so that what you would report on wasn’t just things on the surface of the culture. ”Go Native” means, then, that you could go too far with your immersion and feel so sympathetic to a culture that you can no longer be objective about it. Ethnographers would spend time observing, asking questions, that kind of thing, then they would write about it, and we would read about it in our textbooks.
So, I always associated that word with people who wore khaki and observed cultures in remote areas of the world, along with maybe people like Dian Fossey with her gorillas (like the movie “Gorillas in the Mist” with Sigourney Weaver).
But, that isn’t the case anymore. Now we get studied in the same way. When I was in my marketing classes as part of my master’s degree, we had to be ethnographers. We had to pick a product (shoe, cigar, beverage, etc) and then watch how our culture would interact, purchase, use, etc….this product. I have to say, while I see the value in this, I hated doing it for this class. But what I did find out is that ethnography is used more and more as part of all social sciences (sociology, psychology, marketing, etc). When I went to my job at Johnson & Johnson, I discovered they used ethnography to figure out how doctors used their products in surgery. See, the thing is, doctors don’t always think through every single step they take before, during, and after surgery. Not after years and years of just doing it (which makes them efficient, by the way). So, if we would just ask, “Was there anything you didn’t like about our product?”, they may not be able to think about it because they couldn’t think about it while they were trying to do serious surgery. Business Week wrote about this in an article called, “The Science of Desire”
It’s like asking a teenager exactly why you act the way you do at school. Sometimes you don’t know, because sometimes you can’t always recall the situation that you were in. Maybe you acted the way you did in a group because you knew you had to guard yourself against that “friend” who would only report everything you did on MySpace, seriously affecting your reputation. Trying to take your actions out of context and explaining them to an adult like me would be pretty frustrating for both of us. Although, as parents, we will try, and frustrate both of us, so we can figure out how to help you navigate all the social structures you have to deal with. Because, most of us still remember how difficult it was. I know I do. I don’t envy my daughter on that one.
So, back to ethnography. In the last several years I have realized that we are not above the cultures in the remote areas of the world as far as weird practices and social behavior. So, we have people who watch us to write and report on what they find.
Ethics
I want to state right now that the above information could instantly make someone think about distrusting ethnographers: their motives, their supporters, their research. That’s fair. It seems we get observed so that big for-profits can learn all about us and then trick us with their mad psychology schemes into buying their product. Some do that. From taking marketing ethics classes at Notre Dame, I know that severe regulations have been placed on marketing to children to avoid placing Spongebob on foods that are unhealthy. Or selling huge unhealthy meals to children merely because there is a cool toy involved.
HOWEVER!!! There are also people who do ethnography ethically. They do it because they care. They do it so they understand how to help us cope with technology, or each other, or the world. They do it to teach businesses how to communicate the good they do in a way that makes sense to us. There ARE ethical businesses out there that care more for you and the world – I will talk more about that as the days go by. I just want you to know that sometimes what you see is what you get, and there are many companies that make money the right way, but prioritizing relationships, customer service, and intentional servant leadership and stewardship.
danah boyd
danah boyd - image taken from Fortune Magazine article
danah boyd seems to be one of these ethnographers. from her own website, danah is a “Social Media Researcher at Microsoft Research New England and a Fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. I recently completed my PhD at the School of Information (iSchool) at the University of California (Berkeley). My research examines social media, youth practices, tensions between public and private, social network sites, and other intersections between technology and society.” (from her website, http://www.danah.org. She has also been called one of “the smartest people in tech” by Fortune magazine.
As she told us through the webinar, what all the above means is that she observes teenagers and asks them questions in relation to how they use social media as part of their way to make sense of relationships. Then she writes about it, and advocates for ways to help us all navigate safely online. To my point about safe adults and ethical practices, she is also big on efforts to end violence against women and children.
Why Am I Writing This Blog?
Because her webinar fascinated me. Because like her, when I was growing up, the Internet was used for information and research. And even now, that is still somewhat the same, although I do keep up with my friends, and watch what I say online, but more because I am savvy, and I don’t want to do anything that calls into question my reputation. I’m pretty big on integrity and ethical excellence.
But, what I learned is you, the youth, use social media for the following reasons:
a) because you can’t physically hang out with your friends for some reason (namely, we as parents seem to have you on too tight a leash). where many adults think you prefer to text and mySpace versus seeing people in person (what we used to do in malls)…you DO prefer face to face, you just can’t get it.
b) because phone plans are too expensive. I remember angering my parents by being on the phone we had at home all the time, including all night at some points. But that life doesn’t exist anymore. I don’t have a landline at home; many homes do not. You may have access to a cell phone, but not an iPhone, and not anything expensive and unlimited. More importantly, definitely not something that would give you privacy. My parents phone bill would show who I called,or who called me. Now it is much more detailed.
c) you want to socialize, not research. You do want to know what your friends are doing. You don’t go online to find new people, you go online to find YOUR people.
d) PRIVACY MATTERS!! We worry for you about predators. But frankly, you worry about parents and how much privacy and respect we do NOT give you online. You are concerned that we do not trust you enough. It was interesting that danah brought up the fact that while there are predators, more often it is peer bullying, not an older person harassing an underage person. As adults, we worry about strangers that hack our information and use it. As teenagers, you worry about how people you know can use your information (including parents).
e) bullying. sadly, bullying still exists, and it has found new ways to rear its ugly head. Ways that have much more scope and range than what I had growing up.
f) almost more importantly, you don’t always know what you are doing online. Me? I’m always skeptical. I know from being in the industry that online means no secrecy, no privacy, and oh…message permanence. Whatever you write is forever somewhere. Long time ago when it was just email, I was a systems administrator and could tell people, “Look, you can’t just delete an email, especially after you hit send. You hit send, your control is all over. There will be a backup on a server somewhere, and then on a tape somewhere…accessible…for years. The person who has your email can archive it, forward it, cut and paste it online. Your words, once sent, published, posted,etc…are now forever. Whether you want them to be or not.” I know many adults who don’t understand that concept. I just can’t get how a teenager or younger is going to understand that. But we can help. We can navigate this together. And should.
g) you have been taught not to trust adults, and you listened. Unfortunately, that means all adults, which means you miss out on some great mentoring, and we miss out on some great insight from you. I have been trained to accept that letting younger people mentor me means I am a better person. But, if mutual trust can’t be established, there is no way to learn. There are more good apples out there than bad. And we can be trained.
There is more I could write, and probably will after I buy and read her book. But I did want to say that this was information I found valuable as my daughter starts to get into social media, and as I work with kids who are already on social media. And, as I work at a University who wants to know the right way to interact with prospective students and alumni, I found this information to be vital in order to establish a trustworthy and valuable online community that mimics what we try to setup on campus.
But, what are your thoughts? Do you agree with that above? Disagree? Why?
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