中高生のオンラインエスノグラフィ

Twitterを利用している吹奏楽部員に着目して

抄録

Existing research on internet usage and social relationships of junior and senior high school students have mostly approached their informants offline. This research is based on an online ethnography to uncover how students establish social relationships in the online world. Selecting Twitter as one of the most widely used social media among this age group, we conducted fieldwork among students who identify themselves as members of the school brass band. As a result, we found that brass band members are “looking for friends” on Twitter and connecting with strangers, and making claims for improved acknowledgment and respect towards brass band members in real life. Connecting with strangers online entails various risks. However, for students who feel that belonging to the brass band places them among the less popular groups of students in school, the online community provides them with an invaluable experience of encountering different ideas and values outside the confinement of the school setting in real life.