Oct 31 2010
Review of Week Six
A review of this week’s activities involves an immersion in the process of undertaking ethnographical research, as I am sure it was for many of my peers on the course. In the first instance I found that I was not able to find appropriate active online communities for my initial idea of joining a Sherlock Holmes group or to immerse myself in a group with a shared interest in the Titanic. I selected these areas as a possible focus for my work because I saw a parallel between these topics and the notion of collapsing or reconfigured border spaces. The ‘Sherlock Holmes’ idea because of tension between fact and fiction (i.e. real spaces, fictional characters) and the ‘Titanic’, because of the literal erosion /dissolving of the ship. However, I quickly realised that it was more important to connect with an active and vibrant group for this project, than to make a neat thematic connection between the research and themes of this unit. The challenge of the project has been to glimpse how culture can be observed using an ethnographical approach, and for this it was necessary to connect with an appropriate online community. In order to find inspiration I reviewed the work of the last cohort of EDC students and found a project which focussed on Twitter use for a ‘Torchwood’ episode. This unlocked my own thinking and I decided to focus on the ITV series ‘Downton Abbey’ and join the Twitter debate. I have also joined the ITV forum, but this is not really very active.
Reflecting on this posting it is clear to see how the peer learning from EDC can work across as well as between cohorts. I can also identify that I tend to try and complicate a given task by creating additional layers of meaning (i.e. attempting to create a thematic link between the research and the ideas studied in this unit). I do not think that this is a negative thing, but it was a complication too far in this instance. However onwards and upwards …
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