Field Observation – Online Community (Research Topic: Online Community of Political Opposition)

For this assignment, you will select an online community (social media page, website, hashtag feed, discussion forum, blog, message board, etc.) and observe the participants, their behavior, their demeanor, and their reactions/interactions to/with one another. Please note that this is a non-participant observation. The goal for this assignment is to understand a digital phenomenon by entering an online community while staying separate from the activities being observed. Using field notes from your observation, you will write a 3-4 page (750-1000 word) essay assessing trends and patterns of behavior that you noticed. Your essay should include at least two primary and/or secondary sources outside of your field notes in order to create a broader view of your online community and triangulate your findings. Your response will address several questions related to the community culture including (but not limited to): What kind of online community are you studying? In what way is it a community? For how long have its members been interacting? Do they see themselves as a coherent group? Who are the leaders?  Does the community have an “insider” language? How do they address each other?  What are the rules for interacting? Who participates? What kind of behavior do you notice?  Throughout the writing process, you will engage in a series of short writing assignments designed to help you hone your research and writing skills while examining the behaviors of others. I’ve added the annotated bibliography with the articles that should be using.