Etnografia on e off-line: cibercafés em Trinidad

Abstract

O presente artigo questiona pressupostos sobre a distinção, comum na pesquisa de Internet, entre on-line e off-line. Várias pesquisas presumiram a "virtualidade", bem como uma forte divisão entre o on-line e o off-line como sendo um dado e um ponto de partida metodológico e analítico em pesquisa. Argumentamos que quando se aborda o uso de fato da Internet a partir de uma abordagem etnográfica, uma tal distinção se revela como um feito social altamente contingente: alguns atores empregam grandes habilidades para estabelecer uma distinção clara entre on-line e off-line em suas práticas de Internet; em outros, tal distinção não tem sentido, ou não é desejável, e tais distinções não são de fato estabelecidas. Utilizamos uma comparação entre cibercafés em Trinidad para demonstrar essa variabilidade e a ampla gama de diferentes relações on-line/off-line que são realmente observadas. Nós relacionamos esse material com a questão mais geral de se estabelecer "contextos" na pesquisa etnográfica.<br>This article interrogates assumptions about the on-line/off-line distinction in internet research. Much research has presumed "virtuality" and a strong division between the on-line and the off-line as a methodological and analytical given and starting point for research. We argue that when actual internet use is approached from an ethnographic perspective, this distinction turns out to be a highly contingent social accomplishment: some actors deploy great skill to establish a sharp on-line/off-line distinction in their internet practices; for others, it is meaningless or undesirable and the distinctions is not established in reality. A comparison of cybercafes in Trinidad is used to demonstrate this variability and the wide range of different on-line/off-line relationships that are in fact observed. We relate this material to the overall issue of establishing "contexts" in ethnographic research

Novos cenários: entre o “estupro coletivo” e a “farsa do estupro” na sociedade em rede

“…3 Unlike the fiery discussions in the analyses about relations on the Internet -marked by the establishment of frontiers between the on-line and the off-line, which mark distinct universes, pointing to a relative independence between both -I follow the analyses that affirm a "strong interlinking of the two kingdoms" (Kendall, 1999:58) and the reflections of Miller & Slater (2004) who focus on an on/off-line continuum, affirming that the properties of the Internet are not inherent to it. 4 Instead of marking the separation between on and off-line, it is more interesting to reflect on this interaction that, based on the on-line, crosses political scenarios and moralities.…”

Reframing the Favela, Remapping the City: Territorial Embeddedness and (Trans) Locality in ‘Framing Content’ on Brazilian Favela Blogs

“…Critical consensus is that geography and technology have become intertwined in contemporary understandings and practices of (network) locality (Ito 1999;Gordon 2008;Gordon and Koo 2008, 209). At the same time, research has shown that the so-called 'online' and 'offline' are not inherently separate or distinct dimensions, contexts or spaces, but should rather be seen as potentially intersecting and configuring each other in a multitude of complex ways, ways which can themselves be fruitful objects of study Slater 2000, 2004;Hine 2000;Slater 2002;Leander and McKim 2003;Crang, Crosbie and Graham 2007).…”

“…Although blogs ultimately became the core focus of the study, early exploratory (but not exhaustive) mapping of digital content from Maré found a variety of different types of 'local content' being published on 5 The decision to term this approach 'ethnographically inspired' reflects its observation of some of the key principles of ethnography -methodological reflexivity and adaptiveness, and an effort to achieve 'alignment' with the perspectives of the people being studied (Horst and Miller 2006, 167) as well as exposure to, and experience of, their practices (Eichhorn 2001;Hammersley and Atkinson 2007). The terminological caveat ('ethnographically inspired') acknowledges the central influence which ethnographic studies of the internet and digital technologies (Hine 2000;Miller and Slater 2000;Postill 2008Postill , 2011, literacy practices (Barton and Hamilton 1998) and writing/texts (Barber 2007;Blommaert 2008;Barton and Papen 2010) had on the research design, but also the methodological displacements which occur when ethnography is applied in an interdisciplinary and digital project such as this one. These displacements can include a shift away from necessarily long-term immersion and participant observation in a specific bounded location, which one reaches through physical travel, to be replaced by a 'partial' (rather than 'holistic') view of the object of study (Hine 2000, 10), and an understanding of the fieldsite as a network incorporating a variety of spaces, physical and otherwise (Burrell 2009;Strauss 2000), in which different types of (co)-presence and interaction are achieved (Marcus 1995;Beaulieu 2010).…”

Imagined communities: Banal nationalism in Barcelona “Locutorios”

“…The concept, and space, of the Internet café is more widespread in different countries of the world, as evident by some work and research produced on these spaces in Mexico (Castro & Zepeda, 2004), Taiwan (Chao, Wang, Lin & Lee, 2005), India (Chawla & Behl, 2006), Turkey (Gürol & Sevindik, 2006), London (Wakeford, 2003), United Kingdom (Lee, 1999;Liff & Steward, 2003), Botswana (Mauta & Mutula, 2004), Tanzania (Loth, 2001), China (Hong & Huang, 2005), Sweden (Ferlander & Timms, 2006), Scotland and Norway (Laegran & Stewart, 2003) and Trinidad (Miller, 2004).…”