This week I examined the field site for researching the Tiny Meat Gang Podcast and in doing so I created a diagram to map the field site network. Although the term field site contains connotations of a physical location, Burrel suggests that digital ethnography has highlighted an “awareness and analysis of spaces beyond what can be physically inhabited” (Burrel 2009). But a field site is not purely located virtually either and instead it involves a network of elements and assessment of how these actors interact.
The Main Personas
Lundström and Lundström propose that “to become familiarised with the podcast’s particular universe” one should have “initial focus on who is speaking, and with whom” (Lundström 2020). For this reason, the first actors plotted on my diagram are the main personas of the podcast, Cody Ko and Noel Miller. In essence, these two are the main participants and facilitators of the show and all the content centres around their own thoughts, discussion and jokes about particular topics. Connected to the hosts are the individual exploits which predominantly are Noels Twitch TV Channel and Cody’s YouTube Channel and frequently topics cross between the podcast and these formats, as the context is further explained and further jokes are made. At the very least, there is a strong connection between these elements in terms of their shared audience, I know I personally consume both the podcasts content as well as the personas own work.
Free vs Paid Content
In outlining TMG’s field site, it is also relevant to consider the different ways in which the podcast itself can be accessed by its audience. A free episode is available each week on all major podcast apps and there is also a paid episode each week, which can be accessed on Patreon for $5 USD (~$7 AUD) per month. The possibility of paying for additional content raises an interesting question when “Identifying where the researcher should ideally be located as a participant observer” (Burrell 2009). To fully observe the field site and network of the TMG Podcast should I pay to access all of their material? (Hint: I already do so this is a hypothetical question). Lundström and Lundström faced a similar conundrum when researching Motgift, a Swedish radical nationalist podcast and they considered whether they should pay for more content knowing that they are supporting an ideology that they don’t believe in (Lundström 2020). Given that the perspectives of TMG are less questionable, I am willing to support them in order to access and research a greater depth of content.
Audience Interaction
A third element of the TMG field site is the connection between the two main personas and their audience. As part of the podcast “Connections are frequently made to the perceived audience, either in mentions or by inviting them as guests” and this is a point of difference when compared to more traditional media, here, the audience plays an active role in shaping the content of the show (Birch & Weitkamp, 2010). For TMG the majority of this connection occurs on their social media pages as well as the private discord, where fans of the show can share additional content that either directly relates to something said in an episode, or more commonly, provide a funny video which the hosts can react to. The other way in which the audience can participate is when specific individuals are invited to be a guest on the show, although this is not a common occurrence. Most of the guests are other famous people, such as Post Malone (see below), however ordinary audience members have on occasion been invited, most recently a fan who made a video discussing the high number of times the shows hosts use the word ‘like’. All of this combines to produce “a vibrant and transformable field site” which can be influenced by its audience (Lundström 2020).
Concerns
My main concern at this point is that I may have narrowed my field site too early (from week 1 I have focused on TMG) and perhaps I should have started with a more broad topic such as ‘comedy podcasts’. I am hoping this will not limit the research process as I continue to narrow my topic and problematise the media niche.
Sources
Birch, H., & Weitkamp, E. (2010). Podologues: Conversations created by science podcasts. New Media & Society, 12(6), 889–909.
Burrell, Jenna (2009) ‘The Field Site as a Network: A Strategy for Locating Ethnographic Research’, Field Methods, 21:2, 181–199.
Lundström, Markus and Lundström, Tomas Poletti (2020) ‘Podcast ethnography’, International Journal of Social Research Methodology, online first issue.
Shanks 