Hello members of Penny Arcade forums!
I am an undergraduate anthropology student at the University of Arizona, and this semester I am doing a digital ethnography project on the term "Social Justice Warrior." I've seen the term on multiple websites and want to explore its use through an anthropological lens. This site uses the term, so I was hoping I could register an account and ask users about it.
So I guess this thread serves two purposes: An introduction to myself and a discussion on the term "Social Justice Warrior." I want the discussion to get off-topic, ethnography has a focus on informal conversation (I don't want you guys to simply answer my questions one by one, as if I were giving a sort of survey).
The first purpose is hardest for me because, honestly, I don't know quite how to introduce myself or the project I am trying to work on, because I don't know exactly what form the project is going to take. I might contribute to discussion on other parts of the forum, or this might be my only post. I might completely abandon the interest in the term "SJW" and focus on something else. I'm an undergrad who hasn't done ethnography before, let alone ethnography in a digital "place", so this is a learning experience (this also means I'm open to advice!).
The second purpose I think is pretty intuitive: Have you heard/scene the term "Social Justice Warrior"? If yes:
- Where and when have you heard/scene it?
- How would you define its meaning and its origins?
- What is your personal opinion on the term?
Also, returning to the topic of a "digital ethnography" in general, I'd also like to know some more personal things about members of the forums. Things like:
- How long have you been a member of this forum?
- What brought you to make an account?
- What other "online communities" have you been/ are you currently a part of?
- Where are you from physically? How old are you? What's your gender? Ect (obviously only if you feel comfortable answering that stuff)
- Do you know people in real life who are members of the same online communities as you?
- What are you political and religious affiliations?
I hope this post doesn't come off as intrusive or anything, if it does please tell me bluntly and honestly. Thanks for reading this if you did!
Tl;dr: What does "Social Justice Warrior" mean? and Who are you in real life?
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