Problems surrounding cybercultures. A reflection on the possibilities and limits of virtual ethnography

Abstract

The aim of this work is to present an approach to the discussions on the implementation of the ethnographic method to the study of community bonds in cyberspace. The need for such an approach is due to the fact that, in Argentina, it can be seen a sparse and scattered academic production regarding cybercultures, yet in the contemporary context of increasing digitization and convergence where everyday interactions via the Internet are established as one of the central dimensions of sociocultural life. Therefore, here is proposed a possible bibliography around the conceptual discussions and methodological reflections that, both in the Anglo and Hispanic academy, have been taking place from anthropology, sociology, and communication, about what “virtual ethnography” (Hine, 2004) implies.