tavie.com

So much has changed since I began to get on a roll with this research question for my anthro design class. I didn't used to think I would ever want to go to grad school-- for me, school is a way to get a better job, period. I hate where I am most of the time and I can't imagine wanting to do more work, harder readings, drudgery, voluntarily after getting my B.A. Nothing could interest me enough to want to pursue it. What would I do with an M.A. in cultural anthropology? Teach cultural anthropology, right? My worst nightmare-- standing in front of a lot of people I don't know and trying to teach them. I could never be knowledgable enough for that, no? No, more likely I might get a slightly better secretarial job. What the hell does the future hold for me anyway, eh?

Now there's cyberanthropology, and I can actually see myself wanting to get deeper and deeper. I want to read all the books. I want to be familiar with all the theories. I want to be able, eventually, to contribute to the theories. It's indescribably exciting to feel this way about something. I've complained about my lack of passion in this space billions of times. This is a subject I could possibly be passionate enough, if I could continue to hack through the ignorance and come out with the knowledge. I really want to.

See here, I had to formally rewrite my research question, simplifying and rephrasing it (and touching on the intended methodology) to submit to my professor. I've just written it out. It's something that I'm sure has been tested and retested, and yet, I want to carry out the study myself. I want to try it. This is the question:

There is a concern by psychologists and social critics that frequent online participation is harmful to the social life of the internet's more active participants. I propse that the conceptual dichotomy pitting online life and offline life as "mythical popposites" is a false one, and that participation in online communities has an effect opposite to that described above. I intend to show that frequent internet users increase their social connections, and thus their offline activities; that they "get out more" rather than less since becoming active online participants. I will utilize statistical research, questionnaires and participant-observation in an online community to back my claims.

Sure, it'll probably test false, but I bet that, in the testing, I could chip away at some of the popular conceptual bias about cyber-"addicts". Paint a more complex picture of social interactions in and beyond the cyber-realm. And wouldn't that be exciting?

Do you think this is a stupid thing to get excited about?

Why are you in Tavie's head? 4:49 PM | shower me with attention