| Abstrakt: |
Social networking sites (SNS's) allow for formation of groups of individuals united by a cause, interest and at times even a brand. These groups could have a hundred or a billion members, ranging in their degrees of involvement. With such huge numbers, quantitative studies such as surveys, or highly selective qualitative studies such as interviews remain only popular options to study audience behaviour. This paper explores the method of Netnography (Kozinets, 1998) for observing the online populations and evaluates its pros and cons for studying cybercultures in the Social Networking Sites. Netnography is an online adaptation of on-field ethnographic study, a method utilized often in sociological studies. It allows for a qualitative as well as a quantitative approach with the use of various methods and tools adapted for a computer mediated field. This paper explores the various approaches and tools of Netnography, their uses and perceptible outcomes and compares it with those of other methods of studying virtual populations. With a review of select studies and research papers on Digital communication research methodologies and virtual sociological paradigms, the study evaluates the pros and cons of adopting this research method. Lastly, the paper also discusses the ethical repercussions of online observation vis-a-vis cyber stalking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
