Brief presentation on virtual ethnographies.

1. Methodology
Minute
–
Online
Ethnographies

2. Do
You
Interact
Differently
In
a
Virtual
Environment?
What
If
You
Could
Create
A
New
Iden(ty

3. What
Transferrable
Skills
Can
ParGcipants
Learn
In
Online
Worlds?
How
Are
They
Similar
And
How
Are
They
Different
From
Face
To
Face
Environments?
From
the
First
MUD
in
1979
to
WoW
in
2004,
What
Virtual
Worlds
Will
be
Available
in
2020?

4. Large
CollaboraGve
CommuniGes
(Environments
With
Millions
of
Users)
Online
RelaGonships
and
Friendships
(Including
Marriages)
Highly
Complex
Economies
(Virtual
to
Real
Currency
Exchange)

5. Methods

6. Strengths Weaknesses
1. Less
restricGons
when
sharing
online
experiences
due
to
increased
anonymity.
2. Extensive
data
is
gathered
automaGcally
/
silently
by
the
online
system.
3. Chat
logs,
forum
data
are
easy
for
the
researcher
to
record.
4. Does
not
require
long
distance
travelling.
Low
costs
studies
1. May
be
difficult
to
obtain
parGcipants’
demographical
data.
2. System
data
/
analyGcs
may
include
extensive
noise
limiGng
the
usability
3. Difficulty
gauging
non-­‐verbal
cues
in
text-­‐centric
environments.
4. CommunicaGon
difficulGes
due
to
technological
limitaGons.
(E.g.
Different
connecGvity
and
typing
levels)