Multi-present Ethnography

Ethnographic presence in more-than-digital fields

Abstract

Ethnographers face multiple layers of digital and media practices in contemporary fieldwork. Being-there is no longer limited to one site of co-location but follows the processes and practices in multi-sited, multi-temporal and multimodal ethnographies. An ethnography of computer game events shows how digital and virtual modes of co-presence are essential to develop an ethnographic sensibility for the field. Practices at gaming events include a variety of different digital sites and require multiple modes of co-presence online and offline. The ethnographic bundle of methods follows the logics and complexities of the field. Different modes of co-presence also generate multimedia research materials for documentation and analysis. A multi-present ethnography tries to overcome the divide between digital and analogue and offers a methodological approach to trace their interconnections and relations in more-than-digital fields.