García-Rapp, F. (2019) Trivial and normative? Online fieldwork within YouTube’s beauty community. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 48 (5). pp. 619-644. ISSN 0891-2416
Abstract
In this article, I discuss methodological understandings around qualitative research and online ethnographic practice to bring forward a reflexive account on the particularities of doing fieldwork on YouTube. I draw from a multiyear ethnographic examination of YouTube’s beauty community that sought to understand online popularity framed by local norms and practices and shed light into the local significance of knowledge, expertise, and self-development. I argue for an epistemological perspective that acknowledges the diversity of viable, conceivable fieldwork experiences while distancing from prescriptive modes of argumentation. I propose seeing fieldwork in and through its richness and predicaments, persistently naturalistic while interpretive. I approach online popularity, fandom, and even YouTube itself from a perspective that tolerates ambivalence, contradictions, and embraces the complexity of social worlds and human interaction.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Author(s). This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | digital ethnography; online fieldwork; YouTube; online communities; interpretive epistemologies; cultural critique; diversity |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Journalism Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 11 Apr 2019 10:14 |
Last Modified: | 12 May 2021 13:54 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0891241618806974 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:144837 |
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Filename: García-Rapp YouTube2018 ContemporaryEthno.pdf
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