Why can’t I find a qualitative methods textbook that adequately represents the challenge of doing research in/with/of what we might call the digital, technological, internet, online, or networked? Here’s my short answer.
Remix is a term that came into usage in the late 20th century to refer to the practice and product of taking samples form audio tracks and putting them together in new and creative ways.
The past three decades mark tremendous growth in digital social interaction, from early experiments in virtual reality, text-based communities, and role playing games to today’s saturation in social media, where we are always on, tethered to mobile devices, enacting what Nielson in 2012 labeled “Generation C” (for connected)…
The form and cultural practice of remix offers a lens through which we may be able to better grapple with the complexity of social contexts characterized by ubiquitous internet, always-connected mobile devices, dense global communication networks, fragments of information flow, and temporal and ad hoc community formations.