Digital Anthropology and ethnographic imaginaries

Experiments, dilemmas and possibilities

Abstract

This Forum brings together 7 articles that explore various aspects of digital anthropology. Carla Barros analyzes the @thallitaxavier profile on TikTok and Instagram, investigating “peripheral veganism” as a phenomenon of consumption and identity dispute. Stephanie Lima, Fernanda Martins and Catharina Vilela look at the internet as a space for black and indigenous people to construct knowledge and themselves, exploring the production and circulation of knowledge online and offline. Thaís Lassali discusses the relationship between researchers and the algorithms of digital platforms, using her research into reactions to a blockbuster film on YouTube to analyze programmed reception. Caroline Coutinho Dal'orto investigates digital pornotopias and how the commercial exploitation of intimacy in camming is articulated with moral discourses on sexuality and the new conditions of online exposure and sex work. Julio Valentim and Patrícia Pavesi explore the influence of family and friendship networks and digital technologies on the integration of migrant women in Vitória (ES), using Multilevel Integration Analysis through ethnography and computational methods to examine integration in various dimensions. Galba Cristina Bezerra Franca Scartezini and Carlos Eduardo Henning investigate how 60+ civil servants at the Federal University of Goiás use digital platforms and how this impacts on the digitalization of labour relations. Carolina Parreiras presents an article on WhatsApp, drawing attention to its platformization process and its mundane nature. In addition, based on her field research experiences using WhatsApp, she explores the issue of intimacy and the challenges of conducting research involving digital platforms. In addition to the articles, we have an interview with Indian anthropologist Sahana Udupa, one of the main references for decolonial perspectives applied to the digital. There is also a translation of an important article by Nick Seaver on the ways in which anthropology can contribute to the study of algorithmic systems. As this brief summary of the articles shows, we are talking about a highly creative, critical and rapidly changing field, which to some extent accompanies the technological transformations themselves. What you will find are articles that not only present field data, but also problematize the very use of digital technologies in ethnographic research. Or even that point to issues of social and political relevance, such as the aforementioned platformization and datification of life. We hope that this set of articles will be another contribution to the history of digital anthropology in Brazil, as well as helping researchers in their research in, of, with and for the digital.