Tag: Digital Anthropology

Applying Computational Ethnography and Statistics to Vapor Wave: Interview with Tanner Greene (Part 2 of 2)

Here is the second part of three in my conversation with Tanner Greene. He discusses his strategies for transitioning from graduate school to UX research and his recommendations for any fellow student seeking to do the same.

Here is Part 1 of our interview.

Tanner Greene is a UX Researcher and Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Virginia, where he’s finishing a dissertation on the history of vaporwave, a music genre created on social media platforms. Tanner’s interests straddle math and the humanities, spanning digital cultures, user metadata, and a long-dormant statistics ability he wants to revive. In his spare time, Tanner enjoys writing about music, playing video games, and dreaming about learning SQL.

Resources We Referenced:

For more context on my interview series in general, click here.

Applying Computational Ethnography and Statistics to Vapor Wave: Interview with Tanner Greene (Part 1 of 2)

For my next installment in my Interview Series, I interviewed Tanner Greene. He recently received his doctorate from the University of Virginia for his research on the digital music genre, vapor wave. He primarily used qualitative means but has also taught himself Python to be able to employ quantitative textual analysis into his project. It is a good example of how to integrate qualitative digital ethnographic techniques with quantitative natural language processing.

In this first part, he discusses why he decided to study the vapor wave community and his experiences learning Python to conduct statistical analysis with.

Here is Part 2 of our interview.

Tanner’s interests straddle math and the humanities, spanning digital cultures, user metadata, and a long-dormant statistics ability he wants to revive. In his spare time, Tanner enjoys writing about music, playing video games, and dreaming about learning SQL.

Resources We Referenced:

For more context on my interview series in general, click here.

Tech Anthropologist Working and Product Manager: Interview with Matt Artz (Part 1 of 3)

As part of my Season 2, I interviewed Matt Artz, a design anthropologist who has been recently working as a product manager in the tech space. In Part 1, he discussed his experiences making innovative software products as an anthropologist and product manager.

Matt Artz is a business and design anthropologist, consultant, author, speaker, and creator. He writes, speaks, and consults in user experience, product management, and business strategy. He creates products, podcasts, music, and visual art.

For more context on my interview series in general, click here.

Resources we mentioned or other additional resources:

  • My website – https://www.mattartz.me/
  • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-artz-anthropology/
  • Anthropology in Business podcast – https://www.mattartz.me/podcasts/anthropology-in-business-with-matt-artz/
  • Anthro to UX podcast – http://anthropologytoux.com/
  • Venn Diagram – https://www.ideou.com/pages/design-thinking
  • Book – https://www.ideo.com/post/design-kit

Tech Anthropologist Working and Product Manager: Interview with Matt Artz (Part 2 of 3)

This is the second part of three in our conversation. In it, he described his work developing data science-based recommendation systems using the concepts of design anthropology, participatory research, and design thinking, and then how he uses his skills as an anthropologist to visualize and communicate results and then plan what to do going forward with stakeholders.

Matt Artz is a business and design anthropologist, consultant, author, speaker, and creator. He writes, speaks, and consults in user experience, product management, and business strategy. He creates products, podcasts, music, and visual art.

Please also see Part 1 of the interview.

For more context on my interview series in general, click here.

Resources we mentioned or other additional resources:

  • My website – https://www.mattartz.me/
  • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-artz-anthropology/
  • Anthropology in Business podcast – https://www.mattartz.me/podcasts/anthropology-in-business-with-matt-artz/
  • Anthro to UX podcast – http://anthropologytoux.com/
  • Venn Diagram – https://www.ideou.com/pages/design-thinking
  • Book – https://www.ideo.com/post/design-kit

Tech Anthropologist Working and Product Manager: Interview with Matt Artz (Part 3 of 3)

This is the third and final part of three in our conversation. In Part 3, he discussed why he decided to study anthropology for his business work and how that helped give him the skills for the work he does today.

Matt Artz is a business and design anthropologist, consultant, author, speaker, and creator. He writes, speaks, and consults in user experience, product management, and business strategy. He creates products, podcasts, music, and visual art.

Previous Parts:

  1. Part 1
  2. Part 2

For more context on my interview series in general, click here.

Resources we mentioned or other additional resources:

  • My website – https://www.mattartz.me/
  • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-artz-anthropology/
  • Anthropology in Business podcast – https://www.mattartz.me/podcasts/anthropology-in-business-with-matt-artz/
  • Anthro to UX podcast – http://anthropologytoux.com/
  • Venn Diagram – https://www.ideou.com/pages/design-thinking
  • Book – https://www.ideo.com/post/design-kit

Digital Anthropology and Artificial Intelligence: Interview with Scarleth Herrera (Interview #8 in the Interview Series)

For Part 8 in my Interview Series, I interviewed Scarleth Herrera, a digital anthropologist and founder of Orez Anthropological Research. In it, we discuss her experiences as starting her own digital anthropology research company, transitioning into artificial intelligence-related work, and experiences conducting anthropological research outside of academia.

Scarleth lives in South Florida. Her Orez Anthropological Research is a non-profit dedicated to the exploration and advancing the research of digital anthropology. She is also a Research Scholar at the Ronin Institute in New Jersey. Her current research focus is on the implications artificial intelligence may have on society in general but particularly low-income communities, but she is also passionate about issues facing immigrant communities in the United States.  

Resources about Scarleth and Her Work:

Email: scarleth@orezanthroresearch.org
Twitter: @orezantresearch
Website:  www.orezanthroresearch.org
Ronin Institute: ronininstitute.org

Resources about Digital Anthropology and Other Resources Referenced in Our Conversation:

London School of Economics Ethnography Collective Reading List: https://zoeglatt.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LSE-Digital-Ethnography-Collective-Reading-List-Oct-2021.pdf
Digital Ethnography Initiative: https://digitalethnography.at/blog/
The Digital Ethnographers Directory: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1x8UOb1AxZS5FYRkXn2QLPrje-6vA4U4WC6SsmJXNHys/edit#gid=0
“The Short Anthropological Guide to the Study of Ethical AI” by Alexandrine Royer: https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.03362
“The Great Hack” (Netflix Documentary Mentioned)

Recommended Books in Digital Anthropology:

“Digital anthropology” by Daniel Miller et al. (recommend both the first and second editions)
“Doing Anthropological Research” by Natalie Konopinski
“Studying Those Who Study Us” by Diana E. Forsythe
“Digital Ethnography” by Sarah Pink