Participant Observation on YouTube

A Practical Example

Abstract

How does field research work when the field is an Internet site? Using a practical example on the media platform YouTube, the article shows one way in which the classic ethnographic method of participant observation can be digitized. That is, how well-known and proven research practices can be used in a social space online and what challenges such a field brings with it. On the one hand, the article goes over background information on the algorithmic structure of websites and, on the other hand, practical questions of moving in the field or collecting and handling material. An STS-influenced, flow-oriented approach is proposed, which takes the particularities of digital fields seriously and at the same time shows continuities to classical research environments.