• In what ways might you be able to utilize virtual ethnography or netnography within your research project?

A significant part of my research will be focused on observing online behaviors and phenomenon. The research will be based on an overlapped approach of the cultural politics and vernacular cultures of digital media. Mainly, I will be collecting archival data from the designated timeframe of my study, and analyzing the visual, textual, and analytical meaning behind the data. The data will be collected through image captured method. Also, I will be conducting online interviews as well to draw conclusions on the observed online activities and their real-life outcomes as well as their virtual results generated. 

  • How would you define and identify your virtual community?

I would identify my virtual community as any netizen located inside and outside of Myanmar who were active on social media especially Facebook and Twitter, and involved in creating and sharing content, organizing, attending, or participate in any type of communication regarding the mass protests and crackdowns/arrests in the following six months after the military coup in February 2021. 

  • How could you collect information about them? Will you just observe, or will you participate in the community?

Since my main methods of data collection are gathering archival data, and conducting online interviews with subjects who were involved or connected to generation and utilization of such data, I will be limited to observing my virtual community for this study.

  • What are the challenges to understanding your research question by virtual methods alone?

The first and one of the most important challenge would be identifying and collecting relevant archival data across social media. There are a number of factors that could limit me from collecting reliable data online: 1) the nature of the algorithmic working of these platforms 2) privacy settings of users 3) political factors (e.g. digital surveillance) that influenced the deletion of archival data. Another challenge would be analyzing the collected data. Since my observed online activities are ranged from visual, textual or audio medium to processes of online communication, a comprehensive framework of collecting and interpreting these data with consistency is crucial in producing reliable results.