Anabel's E-learning and Digital Cultures site » weight weenies http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld part of the MSc in E-learning at the University of Edinburgh Sun, 07 Apr 2013 17:56:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 Weight Weenies – observations and participation http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/02/22/weight-weenies-observations/ http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/02/22/weight-weenies-observations/#comments Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:58:54 +0000 Anabel Drought http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/?p=198 Based on Hine (2000) ethnographical study needs to include participation and observation. I assume observation is fine as all postings are accessible online in a forum that people need to sign up to before being able to access all the comments, but there are no real exclusions.

However to allow a more fuller understanding of the group and to feel part of the community I feel I need to become a member and an equal. However becoming a member was more difficult than I thought! I keep getting the spambot question wrong, I checked and rechecked spelling and finally the site said I was blocked out for 24 hours grrrrrr

Day two – attempting registering – spambot question
Which two words combines the term Shimagnolo?: Shimano and Campagnolo
answer is case sensitive and requires Capitals at the start arrrrggh

However, I am now a member – and can begin to participate so I can create an ethnography (acc to Hine!)

I have scrolled through conversation streams and have noted there are sections for different user groups road cycling, cycle cross, MTB;s. I belong to the road bike community and it is interesting to see this segregation of users, as it is very important to cyclist which group they belong too and some are dismissive of other groups.

I have now (tried to) ban my husband from looking at this website as people are posting weights of every component on their bike and showing photo’s of the pieces being weighed. He has already spent a fortune on bike parts and if he gets into weighing each part I can see further purchases landing on the doorstep and an ever decreasing bank balance!!!!

]]> http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/02/22/weight-weenies-observations/feed/ 0 Why Weight Weenies? http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/02/21/why-weight-weenies/ http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/02/21/why-weight-weenies/#comments Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:11:43 +0000 Anabel Drought http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/?p=185 I have stumbled upon the Weight Weenies website for this ethnographic study due to a discussion with friends about forums and who actually uses them.

I am not an active member of any forum, firstly because I don’t have time, secondly I don’t want to put my name on the internet anymore than necessary (I could always assume an identity) Thirdly I don’t really feel passionate about an online community other than through this course.

The site itself provides the reason why the site exists

Why this site?
Postings saying “How much does X bike component weigh?” can be found on almost every bicycle related message board.
Often the same parts weight is stated several times further down the board.
So, why isn’t there a website that already lists component & bike weights?
Well that’s what we do. Component lists are updated almost daily.

This site has been live since 2004 and as it is updated daily it has a lot of information and groups and relationships to look at.

]]> http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/02/21/why-weight-weenies/feed/ 0 Weight Weenies – micro-ethnography http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/02/20/weight-weenies-micro-ethnography/ http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/02/20/weight-weenies-micro-ethnography/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:16:37 +0000 Anabel Drought http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/?p=183 Weight Weenies.

This is a community my partner lurks in. The idea of an online group of people excited about bike and component weight is fascinatingly niche and nerdy to me and provided a good opportunity for study,

On first glance there is a whole discussion post on using quotes and the specific protocol one should use when commenting in the forum – which again hits the nerd button for me.

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