May 28, 2009
An Ethnographic Study of Women
An Ethnographic Study of Women’s Self Portrayal While Pursuing Personal Relationships An Ethnographic Study of Women
Tara Seymour, Phoebe O’Brien and Chelsea Grint
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to investigate how women portray themselves while engaging with social media sites to find a personal relationship. We examined variables such as privacy, honesty and group mentality throughout the process.
Methodology
Our method used was an ethnographic study using observation and interview. The population that we studied was social media users. The sample of the population was specifically women who used social media to find personal relationships. The time frame of our interviews was May 20-25th 2009. The online activity of the subjects was recent; within the past five years.
Our method was to create a series of ten questions to ask our subjects. We separated and individually interviewed and personally observed two people of our choice. We used the questions to launch a conversation with the subjects about the way that they portray themselves while searching for online relationships. We observed the women in their home environment and took photos of them at their computer. We then came together and discussed the information that we gathered and drew some general conclusions about women’s behavior.
Results
We drew three conclusions after reviewing the data. First, most women engage in online dating in a very private way. They went online alone, usually in their homes. Women were very reluctant to admit that they participated in online dating until they felt that they were in a confidential discussion with the observer.
Second, online dating engages all types and age ranges of women. We observed seniors, middle aged divorcees and college age women. Women of all types are looking for who they think is appealing.
Melissa didn’t like men who posted their salary. “I would never talk to them. That’s so pretentious!”
Third, honesty is not always the best policy. We found that the women we observed only revealed certain truths about themselves that they deemed to be socially acceptable.
“Women lie about their age, men about their height!” said Linda.
“I try to make myself seem as normal as possible!” said Darlene.
We also noticed that the level of comfort and honesty changed drastically when women realized that their data would be shared or if they were asked to be in a photo. The women wanted to remain anonymous.
Conclusion
Throughout the process of our interviews and observation, we found that women were initially very shy and private about their online dating habits until they realized that they were in the company of others who practiced online dating as well. The women were very reluctant to “admit” to engaging in social media to find personal relationships. But when in the presence of others who used social media the same way, they would open up dramatically and communication would begin.
We discovered that for the most part, the dishonesty was in lying by omission. Women didn’t put outright lies on their profiles, but they did create a very strategic picture of characteristics that seemed appealing to them.
There seems to be a gap between living in reality and living online. Some women are grateful for the virtual world in which to have a relationship and others try their best to bridge the two.
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