In this paper I will give a brief overview of a) the community which I will study as part of my coursework for ‘Digital Ethnography“, b) the reasons why I chose this particular community as object of study, c) the boundaries of my research project, and d) the types of qualitative evidence I will hopefully be able to collect.
The Community
The community I will study as part of my coursework is a group of German Lego fans of various ages who have made it their hobby not only to build, create, and play with Lego bricks, but rather to use them as production material for stop-motion films. This particular niche of stop-motion filmmaking has developed with the advent and finally the widespread availability of digital cameras and digital editing …show more content…
At the age of 14 I became a member myself and participated in the community for more than two years before my adolescent interest in stop-motion filmmaking with Lego bricks finally waned which lead to a slow retreat from the Brickfilm community and its activities. Throughout the years I have, however, returned in irregular intervals and therefore already know some of the older members, as well as the typical rituals, activities, and topics members generally engage with. My expertise in film studies combined with my familiarity with the group will, or so I hope, make it easier for me to get access to the group as well as hopefully allowing me to engage with members in a casual and mostly ‘normal’ manner, contributing to the quality of the research …show more content…
Firstly, I anticipate to obtain considerable amounts of qualitative evidence from my observations of the community member’s activites in the forum, for instance conversations with other members in open threads, forum posts and reactions to these posts, public announcements and so forth.
Secondly, I expect to be able to gather qualitative evidence by interacting with members of the community both publicly in discussion threads as well as privately in chats and private messages. In the latter case I will explicitly seek additional consent and ask for permission before using any of the material which derives from private conversations.
Thirdly, it might be possible to win certain members of the group – both those in more respected position such as moderators or administrator, and more ‘ordinary’ members – for in-depth interviews to ask specific questions about their experiences as part of the community. Such interviews could be a useful addition to the information obtained from observational and participational methods as described above, especially when it comes to validating, contradicting, or enriching my
The Community
The community I will study as part of my coursework is a group of German Lego fans of various ages who have made it their hobby not only to build, create, and play with Lego bricks, but rather to use them as production material for stop-motion films. This particular niche of stop-motion filmmaking has developed with the advent and finally the widespread availability of digital cameras and digital editing …show more content…
At the age of 14 I became a member myself and participated in the community for more than two years before my adolescent interest in stop-motion filmmaking with Lego bricks finally waned which lead to a slow retreat from the Brickfilm community and its activities. Throughout the years I have, however, returned in irregular intervals and therefore already know some of the older members, as well as the typical rituals, activities, and topics members generally engage with. My expertise in film studies combined with my familiarity with the group will, or so I hope, make it easier for me to get access to the group as well as hopefully allowing me to engage with members in a casual and mostly ‘normal’ manner, contributing to the quality of the research …show more content…
Firstly, I anticipate to obtain considerable amounts of qualitative evidence from my observations of the community member’s activites in the forum, for instance conversations with other members in open threads, forum posts and reactions to these posts, public announcements and so forth.
Secondly, I expect to be able to gather qualitative evidence by interacting with members of the community both publicly in discussion threads as well as privately in chats and private messages. In the latter case I will explicitly seek additional consent and ask for permission before using any of the material which derives from private conversations.
Thirdly, it might be possible to win certain members of the group – both those in more respected position such as moderators or administrator, and more ‘ordinary’ members – for in-depth interviews to ask specific questions about their experiences as part of the community. Such interviews could be a useful addition to the information obtained from observational and participational methods as described above, especially when it comes to validating, contradicting, or enriching my