Anthropology of Social Networking

The Riots in Brazil seen from a different planet

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:27:21 +0000

By Daniel Miller and Juliano Andrade Spyer After Egypt, Turkey, and other parts of the world, it is now time for Brazilians to appear on the front page of international newspapers – here and here. Yesterday, a quarter of a million people participated in political demonstrations across the country. But while I am also in Brazil, [...]

Anthropology of social media within the city and the Gezi Park protests

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:48:59 +0000

Our seven ethnographies on the impact of social media are all going to be carried out in seven different towns, in seven different countries. These have different sizes and characteristics, but as written in the research proposal they are all towns with links with bigger and cosmopolitan cities, and at the same time with surrounding [...]

My fieldwork experiences

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 08:59:09 +0000

Fieldwork is special in a lot of ways. The experiences that it throws at you are insightful, funny and interesting at the same time. I am sure that all of us have our own share of experiences. Here are a few of mine. Here’s one where I think I was mistaken to be a “(Medical) [...]

Locating the ‘previously thought extinct’ Brazilian dongle

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 09:00:36 +0000

“Who uses a dongle nowadays?” was the question that crossed my mind when I heard Shriram mentioning that these devices represented an important means by which many Indian people connected to the internet. In my world, dongles used as wireless modems belonged to the past. What was the point of using a dongle if mobiles could do [...]

Class and communication

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 10:00:02 +0000

I don’t really want to study social class, every researcher on English society seems obsessed with it, as are the general public. Consider the recent reaction to the BBC Great British Class Survey or books such as Watching the English. But after just two months fieldwork in The Groves I am immersed in a whole slew [...]