Netnography ― Redefined

Social media and the internet are rich, fertile sources of data for social researchers, though online data offer both opportunities and challenges. In this updated new edition, Robert V. Kozinets explains how to use ‘Netnography’ to study cultures and communities online. The book includes full procedural guidelines for the accurate and ethical conduct of ethnographic research online, with detailed, step-by-step guidance to thoroughly introduce, explain, and illustrate the method.The author surveys the latest research on online cultures and communities, focusing on the methods used to study them, with examples focusing on blogging, microblogging, videocasting, podcasting, social networking sites, virtual worlds and more.

The new edition has been expanded to include:

• detailed guidance for researchers on how to combine online and in-person ethnographic methods to fully explore a social phenomenon
• more focus on specific kinds of social media data from sites such as Facebook and Twitter
• more specific examples of how netnography can be used in different social science fields, such as media studies, sociology, anthropology, nursing, and education.
• a discussion of the ways in which communal and cultural social identities are constantly being transformed by combinations of traditional and social media.

This book will be essential reading for researchers and students across the social sciences who wish to study communities online.