<s>
Digital	B-General_Concept
anthropology	I-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
anthropological	O
study	O
of	O
the	O
relationship	O
between	O
humans	O
and	O
digital-era	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
techno-anthropology	O
,	O
digital	O
ethnography	O
,	O
cyberanthropology	B-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
virtual	B-General_Concept
anthropology	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
anthropologists	O
who	O
use	O
the	O
phrase	O
"	O
digital	B-General_Concept
anthropology	I-General_Concept
"	O
are	O
specifically	O
referring	O
to	O
online	O
and	O
Internet	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Digital	B-General_Concept
Anthropology	I-General_Concept
Group	O
(	O
DANG	O
)	O
is	O
classified	O
as	O
an	O
interest	O
group	O
in	O
the	O
American	O
Anthropological	O
Association	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cyberspace	B-General_Concept
itself	O
can	O
serve	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
field	O
"	O
site	O
for	O
anthropologists	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
observation	O
,	O
analysis	O
,	O
and	O
interpretation	O
of	O
the	O
sociocultural	O
phenomena	O
springing	O
up	O
and	O
taking	O
place	O
in	O
any	O
interactive	O
space	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
includes	O
the	O
various	O
communities	O
built	O
around	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
software	I-License
,	O
online	O
platforms	O
such	O
as	O
4chan	O
and	O
Reddit	B-Application
and	O
their	O
respective	O
sub-sites	O
,	O
and	O
politically	O
motivated	O
groups	O
like	O
Anonymous	O
,	O
WikiLeaks	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
Occupy	O
movement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
academic	O
anthropologists	O
have	O
conducted	O
traditional	O
ethnographies	O
of	O
virtual	O
worlds	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Bonnie	O
Nardi	O
's	O
study	O
of	O
World	B-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Warcraft	I-Protocol
or	O
Tom	O
Boellstorff	O
's	O
study	O
of	O
Second	B-Application
Life	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
academics	O
often	O
have	O
trouble	O
accessing	O
user	O
data	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
scale	O
as	O
social	O
media	O
corporations	O
like	O
Facebook	B-Application
and	O
data	O
mining	O
companies	O
like	O
Acxiom	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tom	O
Boellstorff	O
,	O
who	O
conducted	O
a	O
three-year	O
research	O
as	O
an	O
avatar	O
in	O
the	O
virtual	O
world	O
Second	B-Application
Life	I-Application
,	O
defends	O
the	O
first	O
approach	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
just	O
possible	O
,	O
but	O
necessary	O
to	O
engage	O
with	O
subjects	O
“	O
in	O
their	O
own	O
terms	O
”	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Text	O
and	O
numerical	O
analysis	O
software	O
can	O
help	O
produce	O
metadata	O
,	O
while	O
a	O
codebook	B-Algorithm
may	O
help	O
organize	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
