Presentation given at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York on Nov 11, 2009. Online advertisers and web analysts are awash in a sea of data: pageviews, CPMs sold, subscriptions, sentiment, friends, fans, click-through rates, comments, posts, re-tweets… These metrics are great at identifying the “Who?” and “What?” of online behavior but they often leave out the “How?”, “Where?”, and “Why?”. Unlike traditional market research, ethnography uses observation to focus on what people do, not on what they say they do. Ethnography communicates a social story, pulling the audience into the daily lives of the respondents. Despite the introduction of new technologies like social media, humans are still telling the same, vivid stories, just in different ways.

1. DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY
RUSS NELSON
TANDEM RESEARCH
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

2. AGENDA
1.BACKGROUND
2.DEFINITIONS
3.RESEARCH METHODS
4.CASE STUDIES: STATUS, CULTURE, IDENTITY
5.DISCUSSION
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

3. BACKGROUND: FROM STUDYING WEST AFRICAN CULTURE...
...TO STUDYING CONSUMER CULTURE
AND SOLVING BUSINESS PROBLEMS
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

4. ANTHROPOLOGY is the scientific study of people, including their
origins, behavior, and beliefs.
ETHNOGRAPHY is a research method for studying culture in
context. Strategies include interviews, direct observation of
behavior, and participation in the community. Ethnography
communicates the story of everyday life.
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

5. With the introduction of new technologies, how and where we
tell our stories has changed. But they are still the same stories.
Digital Ethnography is often easier than offline research:
•Social networking sites visualize relationships
•People are more honest when they write behind a pseudonym
•Respondents have more control over what they share
•Researchers are less obtrusive and less likely to affect the behavior of the
people they are studying
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

6. VIDEO: OUR RELATIONSHIPS ARE CONVEYED THROUGH MEDIA
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

7. INTERVIEWS
PHONE DIARIES
DIGITAL VIDEO DIARIES
ETHNOGRAPHY
RESEARCH
METHODS
RFID OBJECT TRACKING
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

8. CASE STUDY:
How is Twitter like village politics?
HOW:
Do we create our identities?
Show status?
Enhance social ties?
WHAT:
Languages do we use?
Social rules govern our interactions?
Are our values?
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

9. CASE STUDY:
How is Twitter like village politics?
1. Create identity
1. 2. 2. Collect contacts
3. Exchange information
3. to strengthen connections
-----------------------
4. Create content to define
5. perspective/identity
5. Network grows beyond
friends and family
4. 6.
* 6. Information exchange
becomes more uni-directional
7. Feedback loop: popularity
increases followers
7. 8. Popularity increases credibility

10. CASE STUDY:
How is a hostile culture beneficial to an online forum?
“Bster, Maybe you just don’t like authentic Thai
food. There’s no crime in that.” -stevez
“So an inexpensive, incredibly delicious
[neighborhood restaurant] had a hard time one
night... They forgot an entree, and couldn’t find a
‘manager.’ It is so incredibly pointless to post
about this.” -Kennyz
“Braised steak? That tells me pretty much all I need
to know about where you’re coming from.” -elakin
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

11. CASE STUDY:
How is a hostile culture beneficial to an online forum?
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

12. CASE STUDY:
Why do some people look like their avatars while others don’t?
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

13. CASE STUDY:
Why do some people look like their avatars while others don’t?
PRIVATE
OFFLINE
LURKING STAYING BRAND
IN TOUCH CONNECTING
PRIVATE BUILDING PUBLIC
ONLINE ONLINE
PUBLIC
OFFLINE
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

14. DISCUSSION
russ@researchintandem.com
twitter: @tandemresearch
TANDEM RESEARCH 11.18.09 | WEB 2.0 CONFERENCE DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY