After presenting in class, I have continued to observe the Jewish community on the three sites I have decided to participate in. I have to say that doing an ethnographic study would be hard if i did not feel comfortable joining the conversations on these sites. It is definitely easier for me being Jewish because I do not feel weird participating. As defined by Wikipedia, ethnography is a scientific research strategy often used in the field of social sciences, particularly in anthropology and in some branches of sociology[1], also known as part of historical science that studies people, ethnic groups and other ethnic formations, their ethnogenesis, composition, resettlement, social welfare characteristics, as well as their material and spiritual culture [2]. In simple terms - it is basically studying a group of people and their interactions with each other and their culture by first hand observations.
Here are several questions that I meant to post the day before my assignment in class but I now realize I never actually posted - sorry for forgetting!
Questions
1. Do you think Jewish people use the internet differently than society as a whole?
2. Is internet use an accepted part of Jewish culture?
3. Where do Jewish people congregate online? What types of sites are most popular? Are these the same sites you think would be popular?
4. Would their online discussions center around their common religious faith - Judaism?
5. If you are part of a minority group, do you feel that you use the internet differently than others?
6. Why would non-Jewish people join websites or web spaces specifically devoted to Judaism?
I am beginning to notice a few things worth discussing here about the sites I have decided to partake in. In this post I will specifically talk about how things are going on Shmooze, the social-networking website. Firstly Shmooze.com is not a popular website amongst the Jews. There less than 300 people on the website and not all of these users are Jewish. The discussion board is basically inactive with no recent topics or posts. I have also not received any friend or group requests and when I tried searching for groups to join there were only about 3 groups with members and these groups only had about 1 member each. I feel that my efforts may be better focused elsewhere.
This website, while it is a great example of how an entire website can be tailored to Jewish things (news, music, movies, etc.) is not a good place for me to observe interactions amongst Jews because most of these people appear to have just created a profile and have no real stake in the website. The only type of welcoming I got was a message from a one 'Lisa Liebowitz' that reads:
Hey Cara -- saw you featured on shmooze and wanted to say hi!
I am an American girl (Boston-born) over here in Israel.
You have a great smile. Hope you meet some nice people.
If you're into it, join my kosher sex group which covers the ground where Jewishness and sexuality meet. Fun.
Stay in touch.
Lisa
While I find this message creepy (her references to my smile), it is progress that at least one person has reached out and suggested that I join her group where perhaps there will be some discussion going on that I can at least observe. I decided to check out Lisa's profile page as she is obviously somewhat active on the site. 4 people have commented on her wall since August 2009 -- not so promising! If someone like Lisa (who is obviously forward) can't illicit friendships on this site, I fear that I won't be making many connections. I even posted a status update "excited new member looking to meet new people!" which has apparently gone unnoticed - except maybe by Lisa.
I feel that Jews can become informed on this website by viewing the youtube videos, checking out the news, learning about Jewish musical arts, etc. but I do not think that this website is a place where Jews are meeting each other online and forming friendships and relationships. Thus far I feel that this website fails at the social aspects.
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