In this interview, danah boyd talks about the issues that prompted her to present her ethnographic findings to the tech community at SXSW. During her research, boyd discovered a disconnect between the way sites and apps were being created and the way they were being used. She says there is a disconnect between knowing data can be gathered from users and understanding how to interpret it. boyd also discusses her background and her plans to launch the Data & Society Research Institute. While this interview is a few years old, the issues boyd talks about are more important now than ever. She also reveals a surprise research tool.
Citation:
Wang, T. (2014, February 26). Tell Me More danah boyd: an interview with the author of “It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens” [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://ethnographymatters.net/blog/2014/02/26/tell-me-more-danah-boyd-an-interview-with-the-author-of-its-complicated-the-social-lives-of-networked-teens/
In this book, author Christine Hine describes the ways the internet has become a part of human life: instead of being a technological phenomenon, it’s simply a tool that makes it possible to work, socialize, and navigate the world. Hine further lays out the challenges ethnographers face in studying online communities and in using digital tools. The book includes strategies for collecting data and participating in online communities and contains case studies from Hine’s own research. While not the easiest book to read, it is the text that many other books and articles cite. Hine is considered one of the preeminent digital ethnographers of her generation.