Abstract:

This article provides an overview of some of the key issues the author encountered when researching an online subculture of people who identify as non-human beings, here referred to as the other-than-human community. The difficulties inherent in this task stem from both the complex nature of internet ethnography and from the community itself, and raise numerous considerations about the ethics and efficacy of various formats of information gathering and analysis. This discussion brings together comparable studies of metaphysical communities, digital communities and computer-based methodologies to situate reflections on online fieldwork in the sensitive area of the self-expression of the other-than-human self.

Author: Venetia Robertson