Netnography

Catchy. This is the term Robert Kozinets uses to refer to online ethnography. I admit it's a compelling read (as compelling as an instructional manual on bypassing the methodological challenges presented by virtual ethnography can possibly be). I realized it was not enough to conduct interviews with Internet cafe users or email/hand out surveys; to fully understand the impact of new media in the Arab world, it is essential to follow people's social activities, interactions, and usage of media technologies online. Is it really meaningful to present a study of the democratizing influence of the Internet without studying the content of political blogs, comments, online forums, even social networking sites? In another article, I read the story of a Facebook user named Esraa Abdel Fattah, who started a group in sympathy with a textile workers' strike that led to nation-wide protests against low wages and neoliberal privatization in Egypt. Guess Facebook can be used for non-trivial purposes!

Now the problem is choosing an online group. So many different avenues to choose from: Facebook, Twitter, blogs by prominent Egyptian journalists such as Wael Abbas, even blogs by Muslim Brotherhood members. I was surprised to learn what an active presence they have online.

This'll be fun, can't wait to write 6,500 words on this!