I wasn’t sure how this theory would transfer onto the group I was looking at – YouTube Nirvana / Grunge Rock Group.  I still feel uncertain [and a little uncomfortable] about how much of a ‘community’ this group are. The definition of community is rife with debate, shifting frontiers and not always stable.

I do feel as though the element of RL culture could have a level of impact on the sahpe of an online community, through the provision of an underbelly upon which the virtual might sit.  The level of cultural support required to make this feasible is questionable and something I would like to read more on in the future…

Using the same components or looking at the same platform may result in an experience poles apart.

For my micro-ethnography I decided to study a Nirvana/Grunge Rock You Tube community. Access to the ethnography is available here and EDC comments are listed below.

I love this quote [above]. Thought it fitting given the ethnographic course content that we are currently covering. Highlighting the value of  the reflexive methodological approach.

History repeats itself / coiling down into the future…

Click here to view the embedded video.

• Johnnydeeps (2008) History repeats itself A.O.S. available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIL-uFB7cIc [accessed 01.03.2013]
• Foucault, M. (2007) Space, power and knowledge. I: During, S. The Cultural Studies Reader. London: Routledge pp. 164 – 171

It has been a heavy week in terms of teasing out  ideas on what kind of community to look at, how to approach the task and how to represent the ethnographic findings.

Grid A

Tumblog Week Six postings reflect these tentative steps toward deciphering between community and subculture, what community could be and / or is.  I have felt a little torn about this distinction. I think that the Subculture post has forced me to give time to considering that the location / source hosting a community in itself could contribute to how participants form interactions and subsequently identification with/in the community.

Grid B

The idea of conducting an ethnographic study with non-human subjects is intriguing and an area that is sure to contribute to my bedside locker collection of the future!

The Tumblog is serving a clearer purpose for me these days. Not only as a visual / textual log of what I thought at a particular moment in time  but is pushing my process of thinking, of connecting wider. I have begun to think of my Tumblog as a tram navigating unknown territory, expanding the route system along the way, charting a map of exploration from the basic [Grid  A] to the downright weighty! [Grid B!] It might feel like it’s a long way from Bury to Edge Lane but the engine is picking up speed and the journey enjoyable.

So in thinking about a culture I find my head a-spinning…so much choice.

I was reminded of a blog post that I had read recently. It considered the ramifications and avenues of undertaking an ethnography of robots. What caught my eye about the post was the application of culture to this group…