Digital enthropology is a technology, which is a method of studying virtuality, which can solve the problem of virtual objects in its way. It is based on participant observations. Although what we are exploring is undeniable facts, our task is to understand and explain what is happening in society and how society operates. But sometimes most of the work is still confusing the boundary between offline and online environments. Researchers have reflected on the concepts of virtual and actual, and some even believe that the boundaries between the two tend to blur and merge. Online and offline are increasingly inseparable. However, Boellstorff refuted this illusion in Chapter 2 and claimed that the gap between them still exists. Moreover, he thinks if it is a computer program through the Internet. In the virtual world, we usually have an avatar that can interact with other logged-in people around the world. At the same time, even if the individual turns off the computer, the virtual world still exists because it is located in the “cloud” on the remote server, and he believes that the research can be completed entirely on the network.
The researchers also spent much time studying virtual second life, because the participants observe a long-term process just like learning the language. Furthermore, this process may not necessarily improve the accuracy of the research results. In the research process, the researcher enters a specific environment to observe people and interact with them. In the case where each virtual world participant is a real person, the observed person may be more willing to express more real ideas instead of disclosure of personal identity to the public, and this process may mislead researchers. Therefore, digital enthropology can only be regarded as a framework and methodology to avoid a large number of biases in the research process of researchers. He also believes that numbers and enthropology need to be rethought.
Reference:
Boellstorff, Tom. 2012. “Rethinking Digital Anthropology.” In Digital Anthropology, ed by. Heather A. Horst and Daniel Miller. 1st ed. 39-60. Bloomsbury Academic. <http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~tboellst/bio/Rethinking.pdf>.
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