Lost in transition? : conducting a hybrid ethnography ‘in’ and ‘out’ second life

This chapter offers a methodological framework for an in-depth study on techno-elite audiences. Elite research usually looks into the relationships between those who rule and those who are ruled, the social characteristics of those who exercise power, the relations between elites and society, elite recruitment and elite circulation. The chapter explains why and how the use of linguistic ethnography can renew existing methodologies for understanding the dynamics of the power relationships between cultural producers and contemporary audiences in an environment saturated with interactive social media. It also addresses how the participation of audiences online, through communicating their opinions, co-construct, strengthen or challenge established authoritative identity and, in the meantime, build or shape their own identities and accumulate some social, cultural, technical and economic capital that Bourdieu proposes. Technological development and technical practices mutually shape sociocultural practices. Practices of cultural production and consumption have changed due to the proliferation of digital technologies and social media.