线索民族志:互联网传播研究的新视角

Clue ethnography:A New Perspective of Internet Communication Research

随着数字技术迅速发展,互联网已经成为人类"生活"的重要场域,并且成为了传播学和人类学的重要研究领域。不过,传统以微观观察以及社区研究见长的田野调查是否适用于当前的互联网研究?虚拟民族志是否能够对互联网进行有效研究?这些问题亟待回答。本文通过梳理田野调查的历史演进,对比互联网发展现状,指出了传统田野调查以及虚拟民族志研究方法在互联网研究中的困境。在此基础上引入了"线索民族志",这种研究方法突破了静态的定点观察方式,转向围绕人或者物的行动轨迹及其生发的各类现象进行探究,从而超越了对点的理解,实现对线和面的整体把握。这就要求研究过程中必须将人或物放置在更为宏大的背景中考察,形成一种动态开放的研究新视角。本文结合互联网研究特点,指出了线索民族志在以问题为导向的互联网传播研究、以事件为中心的互联网传播研究、以过程为核心的互联网传播研究中的可能及其策略。

With the rapid development of digital technology,the Internet has become an important field of human"life"and an important research field of communication and anthropology.However,does the traditional field survey,which is known for micro observation and community research,apply to current Internet research?Can virtual ethnography conduct effective research on the Internet?These problems need to be solved urgently.By combing the historical evolution of field surveys and comparing the current development of the Internet,this paper points out the plight of traditional field surveys and virtual ethnography research methods in Internet research.On this basis,the introduction of"clue ethnography",this research method breaks through the static fixed-point observation method,and turns to explore the various phenomena surrounding the trajectory of people or things and their occurrence,thus transcending the understanding of points.Realize the overall grasp of lines and surfaces.This requires that people or objects must be placed in a more ambitious background in the research process to form a new dynamic and open research perspective.Based on the characteristics of Internet research,this paper points out the possibilities and strategies of clue ethnography in problem-oriented Internet communication research,event-centric Internet communication research,and process-centric Internet communication research.