Shall WeChat? Switching between online and offline ethnography - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique / Bulletin of Sociological Methodology Année : 2021

Shall WeChat? Switching between online and offline ethnography

Résumé

Drawing on the ethnographic work conducted inside the digital platform WeChat, this article contributes to the ongoing discussion about the multi-sited ethnographic tools and the digital methods available for investigating virtual worlds and online practices. It analyses the communications, interactions, sociality, and economic activities produced on the application WeChat by Chinese migrant women, together with the same practices constructed offline in Taiwan. Taking a close look at the offline context from which these digital practices are generated, the article shows that when studying online practices, it is essential to understand what corresponds to them in the offline worlds. By updating the four Goffmanian interactionist fieldwork sequences, this research provides some reflections on the necessity to mix and merge online and offline ethnographic techniques in order to apprehend the new practices and scales of interaction at the crossroads where online and offline social spaces intersect. Virtual ethnography cannot be exclusive. Rather, it needs to be designed and performed in dialogue with ‘physical’ observations.
Fichier non déposé

Dates et versions

hal-03408068 , version 1 (28-10-2021)

Identifiants

Citer

Beatrice Zani. Shall WeChat? Switching between online and offline ethnography. Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique / Bulletin of Sociological Methodology, 2021, 152 (1), pp.52-75. ⟨10.1177/07591063211040229⟩. ⟨hal-03408068⟩
80 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More