This sharp, innovative book champions the rising significance of ethnographic research on the use of digital resources around the world. It contextualises digital and pre-digital ethnographic research and demonstrates how the methodological, practical and theoretical dimensions are increasingly intertwined.

Digital ethnography is central to our understanding of the social world; it can shape methodology and methods, and provides the technological tools needed to research society. The authoritative team of authors clearly set out how to research localities, objects and events as well as providing insights into exploring individuals’ or communities’ lived experiences, practices and relationships.

The book:

• Defines a series of central concepts in this new branch of social and cultural research
• Challenges existing conceptual and analytical categories
• Showcases new and innovative methods
• Theorises the digital world in new ways
• Encourages us to rethink pre-digital practices, media and environments

This is the ideal introduction for anyone intending to conduct ethnographic research in today’s digital society.

"The Digital Ethnography Research Lab to which the book refers is currently performing groundbreaking work on ′data ethnography′ that goes very far in answering questions about how ethnographers can effectively deal with ′data′

The clear focus of the book on the necessity of studying the materiality (not only the media content, but also the behavior, the usage profiles) of certain media forms, and the various ways in which this can be done, adds an important dimension to discussions about digital communication technologies. In addition, the book also encourages thinking about new ways of empirical research into media materiality in different disciplines and research fields" - KWALON