Ethnography on/in social media
Abstract
This chapter focuses on practical details of ethnographic fieldwork on social media. The crux of ethnographic research lies in the ethnographer being able to situate themselves among the people they want to study and generate thick descriptions of how their practices become meaningful. We discuss how key concerns of ethnographic research—time, presence, participation, observation, and access—are enacted on social media and share experiences with (1) delineation of the research field, (2) engagement and participant observation, and (3) turning it all into analyzable material via the practice of fieldnoting.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods
Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
Urban and sociocultural dynamics
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Routledge eBooks
- Pages
- 97–124
- Publication date
- 30 January 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter