Author: Sumeja Tulic

Objective of the activity

This lesson introduces students to the cultural dimensions of digital technologies. Focusing on digital ethnography, Chinese social media platforms and ambient play/gaming students will explore how visual and digital practices mediate social relationships, reflect cultural values, and shape everyday life. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to: Identify elementary features of China’s digital ecosystem and social media platforms. Analyze how Chinese platforms (e.g., WeChat, Weibo, Douyin) reflect historical, cultural, and political contexts. Examine how visual practices intersect with socioeconomic dynamics and identity performance. Reflect on the ethical and methodological challenges of conducting digital ethnography in culturally distinct and politically sensitive environments.

Pre-class activities

Readings: Fitzgerald, Richard, Todd Sandel, and Xiaoping Wu. Chinese Social Media: Technology, Culture and Creativity. Discourse, Context & Media 48 (2022). Hjorth, Larissa, and Michael Arnold. “Researching Ambient Playfulness through Happy Farm.” In Digital Ethnography: Principles and Practice, SAGE, 2015. Kefala, Christina. “‘I’m Not an Alien. I’m a Digital Ethnographer’: Doing Online Research with China’s Social Media.” Asiascape: Digital Asia 10(1–2), 2023. Watch: NYT Inside the Daily Life of a Live Streaming Star in China | NYT Op-Docs

In-class activities

1. Icebreaker (10 mins) Icebreaker Prompt:


How do digital spaces shape your experiences and connections with others?

2- What do you know about China’s digital culture or social media platforms?

Students share with the class.

3. Lecture:

Digital Ethnography and China’s Social Media Ecosystem (20 mins) Recap from a previous class: What is Digital Ethnography? A qualitative method for studying lived experiences in digital spaces. Emphasizes researcher reflexivity, positionality, and immersion.

Present main takeaway from: Kefala, Christina. “‘I’m Not an Alien. I’m a Digital Ethnographer’: Doing Online Research with China’s Social Media.” Asiascape: Digital Asia 10(1–2), 2023.

Introduce digital ethnography: studying online spaces as cultural ecosystems. Contextualize the importance of digital ethnography during COVID-19: the dwindling access to China as physical field sites made digital ethnography a crucial method of study. (Reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00630-1) What are Social Media Platforms? Platform affordances and content regulation.

The role of performativity in online identity Discussion: How do features shape communication? How do platform designs reflect cultural values? What are the potentials as well as constraints in conducting fieldwork in/on these platforms?

Platform Overview in China: Present main takeaway from: Fitzgerald, Richard, Todd Sandel, and Xiaoping Wu. Chinese Social Media: Technology, Culture and Creativity. Discourse, Context & Media 48 (2022).

Present the interfaces of leading app, expanding on their affordances as well as aesthetics of these platforms, inviting a comparison with similar American platforms. WeChat: A “super-app” for communication, commerce, and community. Weibo: Public microblogging and cultural discourse. Douyin: Short-form video and regional storytelling. Bilibili: Youth-focused platform with strong fan cultures and danmu (bullet comments). RedNote: Predominantly a platform for young women in big cities in China; gained popularity outside of China after TikTok ban in the US; 


3. Gaming and Ambient Play: Cross-Generational Connection (20 mins) Happy Farm as a case of ambient play (Hjorth & Arnold 2015) Cross-generational digital literacy: how youth taught elders to game. Shift from PC to mobile: changing rhythms of digital co-presence. Digital intimacy and maintaining kinship across distance.

Reflection Prompt (10 mins): “Compare how different generations in China use visual and gaming technologies to maintain relationships. How does this compare to your own experience?” Students journal individually; volunteers share insights.

5. Conclusion & Synthesis (15 mins)

Recap key themes: visuality, platform culture, performativity, digital intimacy. Emphasize the fluidity of fieldwork, and the critical role of reflexivity in digital

After Class Activities

Homework: Having in mind what they learned from the Chinese contexts, ask the student to write a 500 word long reflection on what they found to be similar and/or different between their usage and experience and what they learned about the experience of Chinese users of local apps. What do these reflections tell us about both digital and “offline” spaces and ethnography? Student will share and discuss their reflection during the fallowing class.

Resources

tX8DMuS9FoIr-Digital-Ethnography-—-Case-Study-China.key, vJLyNSq1k7qj-Hjorth-Larissa-and-Michael-Arnold_Researching-Ambient-Playfulness-through-Happy-Farm.pdf, ahbfPxyf7hZ1-Fitzgerald-Richard-Todd-Sandel-and-Xiaoping-Wu.-Chinese-Social-Media-Technology-Culture-and-Creativity.-Discourse-Context-Media-.pdf, aNS1ygIbiBSs-Christina-Kefala_Im-Not-an-Alien.-Im-a-Digital-Ethnographer.pdf