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Netnography

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Home » Methodologies » Netnography

Netnography

“Netnography” is the qualitative analysis of online communities to gain “cultural” insight into that community. Netnography involves the application of sociological and anthropological principles to conduct qualitative studies of these online communities, examining the content produced by members of that community as opposed to methods which involve quantification and statistical methods of analysis.

Netnography is also increasingly being viewed as an important research method in the context of counterterrorism. The principles of netnography are particularly useful in the context studying an extremist community, once it has been identified, to determine the messaging, dynamics, and structure of such a community.

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An Analysis of Interactions Within and Between Extreme Right Communities in Social Media

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Charting Out the Digital Ecosystem of Gangs in the U.S. and Mexico

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Ethical Concerns in Netnography: and by extension other types of online data collection and cultural research

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Islam Online: A Netnography of Conversion

This 2015 book chapter provides an insightful netnographic look at the phenomenon of online conversions to Islam.

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Netnography: An Internet-Optimized Ethnographic Research Technique

This 2015 book chapter focuses on netnographic research. The author seeks to impart an understanding of netnography as a new qualitative, interpretive research methodology that uses Internet-optimized ethnographic research techniques to the study of online communities.

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Netnography: Doing Ethnographic Research Online

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Robert V. Kozinets
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Sub Saharan African Terrorist Groups’ Use of the Internet

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Stewart Bertram and Keith Ellison
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Sweden: when hate becomes the norm

This 2013 article works within a framework of netnography and provides an insightful look at the anti-foreigner climate encountered by the author in Sweden.

Katrina Hirvonen
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Syria’s Socially Mediated Civil War

This source criticizes videos, analysis, and commentary circulated throughout Western social media for its reliance on English-only sources on the Syrian Civil War, promoting a biased and often inaccurate perspective on the conflict.

Marc Lynch, Deen Freelon, and Sean Aday
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This article concerns the sophisticated use of online media platforms by individuals and organizations that promote violent Islamism.

Ali Fisher and Nico Prucha
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The difference between netnography and digital ethnography

This short 2014 online article compares the differences between netnography and other forms of digital ethnographic research. The author defines both netnography and digital ethnography as they are understood by the Center of Digital Ethnography Studies.

Allesandro Caliandro
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The Field Behind the Screen: Using Netnography For Marketing Research in Online Communities

This 2002 article is a foundational piece in the field of netnography and is written by the founder of the discipline. While the article precedes the emergence of social media, it nevertheless provides some critical foundation to the emergence and original context of netnographic research.

Robert V. Kozinets
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The New Face of Digital Populism

This 2011 book uses a survey created by the authors to examine the growth of populist, also known as “nationalist” or “far-right”, parties in Europe by looking at their overall social media presence and analyzing the responses of online supporters.

J Bartlett, J Birdwell, M Littler
2011
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The State of the Art: A Literature Review of Social Media Intelligence Capabilities for Counter-Terrorism

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Jamie Bartlett and Carl Miller
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This short article is the Research Brief for the full report: “Lights, Camera, Jihad: Al-Shabaab’s Western Media Strategy”, which is also available in this Portal.

James Sheehan
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Webnography Webinar

This 55 page deck is the slideshow for a 2012 webinar on netnography.

Suresh Sood
2012
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This short news article in The Daily Telegraph discusses European and North American jihadis’ use of Twitter and social media in Syria.

Ruth Sherlock
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This 2013 slideshow provides a brief visual discussion of netnography used to gain insights into consumer interactions and communications. It includes some brief explanation of the key terms in the discipline, from the perspective of business management.

Harrison Hayes, LLC
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White Paper – Netnography: The Marketer’s Secret Weapon

This 2010 white paper by the founder of the discipline of netnography provides a very clear and well-organized breakdown of the key terms, steps to research, and components of netnography. The article focuses on how social media understanding can drive innovation.

Robert V. Kozinets
March 2010
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