Observing Participants

Digital Ethnography in Online Dating Environments and the Cultivation of Online Research Identities

Bibliographic Data

ID2651968
AuthorsAntonio Silva Esquinas (0000-0002-0996-6448, Universidad Europea, corresponding author), Rebeca Cordero Verdugo (Universidad Europea), Jorge Ramiro Pérez Suárez (0000-0002-5589-2830, Universidad Europea de Madrid), Daniel Briggs (0000-0001-9219-9456, Universidad Europea)
Year2019
Volume3
Issue1
Pages135-151
Publication date2019-09-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Extreme Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2535-3241 • E-ISSN: 2535-3241
PublisherUniversity of Oslo Library (PUBLISHER • NO)
DOI10.5617/jea.6931
OpenAlexW3012362582
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited15

This article offers a critical methodological reflection on how we undertook covert digital ethnographic research on Spanish young people and their use of online dating apps with a focus on the potential risk attached to using them. We were interested in showing how we approached the fieldwork, how we developed different research identities and how those identities were able to draw out raw data which reflected the risk attached to the online dating apps. While the project as a whole used a mixed-methods framework which also encompassed open-ended interviews and surveys, we provide a series of critical reflections attuned to digital ethnography. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to show how the methodological techniques cultivated 'identities' for our ethnographer that became effective in teasing out attitudes to risk and sexual exploration. We also hope that the paper can facilitate similar studies in the future, thus paving the way for other researchers. For this reason, we highlight the problems we encountered during the fieldwork and discuss the ethical issues related to this specific field

Aesthetics · Art · Covert · Ethnography · Focus group · Online research methods · Sociology · World Wide Web · Anthropology · Computer Science · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology

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