| Diary for 11th December to 17th December 2008 SUNDAY 14TH DECEMBER - Snacking on Ethnography
 On Sunday I'll be browsing the interweb and viewing some of the work of a cyber-anthropologist who goes by the name of Ethnosnacker. Using his own youtube channel, he aims to "expose, breakdown and reconstruct ethnographic research or commercial anthropology for those who want to understand it better". His work is an interesting example of how anthropology is increasingly 'used' for commercial purposes. There is plenty of debate about whether this is an appropriate use for the discipline - his view seems to be that ethnography is suitable in any situation where it can help bring meaning to an event or activity....You can watch a introduction to the site here, as well as several interviews that both support and question his work. | 
1 comment:
Hey
Show me where there is "serious debate about whether this is an appropriate use for the discipline." I don't think there is such a debate anymore.
This is not to say there is not or should not be an exploration of the potential value of ethnosnacker, which I think is interesting, especially in its unintended consequence: making the person who generates the information responsible for the quality of the data. Seems a cop out. And of course, people without iPhones (or who suffer AT&T service interruptions) can't use it at all. And why do you need "real-time" data anyway? What is real-time? Is it not part of our peculiar fetish with fast fast fast results, playing right into the quarterly results-as-value ethic that causes our clients and our respondents too much suffering already?
So, in fact, its a good topic. But the focus of the debate, I believe, is and should be different. Thanks for raising the question!
Ken Erickson
www.paceth.com
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