Hello all! The LSE Digital Ethnography Collective is delighted to invite you to our next meeting on Monday 11th November, 6pm GMT. The wonderful Patricia G. Lange will be joining us from San Francisco via Skype to give a talk on ‘Social Forms of Reciprocity in the Digital Era’, followed by a Q&A and discussion on the theme of the talk. Go to our Eventbrite to book a (free) ticket to attend in person: https://teal-hare-083.eventbritestudio.com/79137631787 or else we plan to livestream the event as usual. Many scholars and pundits are concerned that we are “losing” reciprocity and associated warm interactions that form the basis of strong social ties in digital environments. Observations of rampant narcissism in video making has lead to anxieties that on sites such as YouTube, insufficient attention is being paid to fellow video makers. This talk will outline the ways in which attentional reciprocities (such as watching each others’ videos) as well as gestures of mutual support in hard times are apparent amid a group of YouTube participants who use the site socially. At the same time, the talk also draws from anthropological theory to show that not all reciprocities are mutually beneficial. Some bids at attentional reciprocity are used to gain asymmetrical advantage in YouTube viewing metrics. YouTubers who detect such insincere bids at attention tend to eschew them to preserve a creative and social atmosphere on the site. Rather than being a panacea for successful interaction, the talk will explore nuanced forms of reciprocity—and its withholding—to illustrate how reciprocities are enacted and contested within a video sharing milieu. Patricia G. Lange is an anthropologist and associate professor of Critical Studies (undergraduate program) and Visual & Critical Studies (graduate program) at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, California. Her work focuses on the use of video to express the self and engage in sociality. Her new book, ‘Thanks For Watching: An Anthropological Study of Video Sharing on YouTube’ (University Press of Colorado, 2019), analyzes how YouTubers used the site to form community, engage in attentional reciprocity, and provide mutual support. She is also the author of ‘Kids on YouTube: Technical Identities and Digital Literacies’ (Routledge, 2014). Her website is: patriciaglange.org<http://www.patriciaglange.org/> And finally, these are the remaining events that we are hosting before the Christmas break. We will be sending out Eventbrites ahead of each meeting: * 25th November: ‘Meme-Tinted Glasses: Locating the Liberal Self in Digital Postsocialism’ with Rik Adriaans, UCL Digital Anthropology * 9th December: ‘Challenges Associated with Social Media as Research Method’ with Branwen Spector (LSE) and Theodora Sutton (Oxford Internet Institute) All the best, Zoe ________________________ Zoë Glatt www.zoeglatt.com<http://www.zoeglatt.com/> ESRC PhD Researcher in Media & Communications London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Managing Editor: Communication, Culture & Critique Co-Founder: LSE Digital Ethnography Collective @DigEthnogLSE<https://twitter.com/DigEthnogLSE> Graduate Student Rep: Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) Associate Lecturer in Media & Communications (2019/20): Goldsmiths University & London College of Communications YouTube channel<https://www.youtube.com/user/Zedstergal> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/ZoeGlatt> | LSE bio<http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/people/phd-researchers/zoe-glatt>