This week's blog will primarily be focusing on the concept of Unobtrusive Research. Wait, don't go anywhere just yet! I promise it won't be boring. "What exactly is 'unobtrusive research?'" you may (or may not) be asking yourself. Well, it is the finding out of information on your own without interfering with your subject's day-to-day activities. This can be done in several ways, but when it comes to the social media world, things can either go extremely well or extremely wrong.
First -- You must find out if your source is credible or not. Since you are dealing with the World Wide Web, almost anybody can write their opinion or a false statement about a particular topic. One way to figure out of the source is credible is to check the website (if it is followed by ".org," ".edu," or ".gov" could be a start.) Next, find out if the person writing about the information is a reputable company or society. You have to be sure that a random college student isn't just typing away about random information until her fingers are sore (just kidding -- but really.)
Second -- If the person whom you are researching has stated something on their own behalf, you can be sure that this is most likely very reliable information because it is written in black and white right in front of your very eyes! With most celebrities in the entertainment industry, publicity is right there in social media for anyone to read and talk about. Almost all celebrities have their own Twitter or Facebook account, so their followers or friends can check up on them and their daily activities. This can come in handy when you are trying to research them, unobtrusively of course.
A plus about unobtrusive research is that it avoids any form of bias amongst the subject and the researcher. Since the subject most likely isn't aware that they are being researched, they will speak open and honestly about a certain topic. However, with social media, most celebrities are watching what they say anyway and avoid letting things slip that they might regret in the future. Once this information reaches the Internet, it stays there forever and they cannot take back what they said (or wrote).
One example in particular that I would like to share with you is a post from Teresa Giudice's Facebook page. For those of you who may not be aware of who Teresa is: she is one of the women on the Real Housewives of New Jersey on the Bravo network. Teresa is constantly updating her Twitter and Facebook with statuses about her day, what she is doing at the moment, and even pictures taken on the spot! One of her most recent posts on Facebook let her friends know that she will be at a Food Bank charity event on a particular day, with a link for more information about the event. Therefore, if any of her friends would like to know more about the event, if she will be there, or what exactly she thinks about charities and this event in particular, they can view her Facebook page and they can access her personal thoughts all within the click of a button!
Unobtrusive research is done almost on a regular basis by social media users without them even realizing that they are doing it -- whether amongst friends, followers, or celebrities. If you are refreshing your page to see new updates and statuses, or even searching for a particular person to see what they are up to, you are conducting unobtrusive research. It is especially easy to do when it comes to researching celebrities, because the likelihood of being able to get in touch with a particular celebrity in order to find out certain information is slim-to-none.
No comments:
Post a Comment