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Virtual Ethnography

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INTRODUCTION
Snapchat is a mobile social media application that allows individuals, who have the application downloaded, to send timed pictures, messages, and videos to other users. A common practice of the Snapchat application is posting a story, which is video/picture content that a user posts digitally for their friends to view for a twenty-four hour period. The belief behind this practice is that this feature helps users maintain relationships with their network through regular updates. The question can be posed, what different types of self performance are found in Snapchat stories? Is the performance deeply rooted in a need to be connected to our social networks? Previous research suggests that users on social media networking sites …show more content…
The examination of human relationships facilitated through digital media using thick description (Geertz, 1973) defines the practice of virtual ethnography. During this experiment, I tracked my media usage for three days in thirty minute increments and took detailed notes regarding the context of my usage. On the third day, I deleted the Snapchat application and recorded the usage of my other digital media workarounds along with my feelings and behaviors associated with not having the application accessible. In the results section below, I specifically refer to my analysis of features such as Snapchat views and …show more content…
The viewers can be other users permitted by the account holder or the public sphere if the user expands their security settings. The content lasts for twenty-four hours and individuals may watch the content as many times as they want within that period; however, the user posting the content will be notified that you viewed the story. But, Snapchat does not record multiple views from the same person. During reflection on day three, I noticed that on day two I was posting stories with the motivation that a significant other would view my content. I craved to be connected to this individual but I did not feel comfortable personally reaching out. Snapchat allowed me to channel my relationship with this individual in a more empowering fashion. He could see through passive media posts that I was functioning and enjoying life, however, I did not have to personally connect with him online or in-person. I never realized how much my usage of Snapchat was surrounding this single user and how badly I yearned to feel noticed. When speaking with friends about this, they confirmed my results and agreed that they also post in an effort to subtly reach out in hopes a specific person will see it. The content of my stories often included videos of friends or selfies of myself. Many social media platform share similar features but audiences play a huge

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