Observation/Interview/Conversational (user) Analysis Report
(In case)
Nowadays, online forum becomes one of the popular ways for people to communicate with others and more and more people are involved in their own online communities. My group is involved in an online forum, Instructables, which focuses on the instructions of do-it-yourself projects for created users. So, in this report I will trace this online community and conduct a brief study on how it works. I will give an introduction of Instructables first. Besides, I will study the features of Instructables in this report. In addition, I will analysis my result of the observation of this online forum.
Instructables is a special online forum for creative users to share their do-it-yourself projects with documentation. Users can post instructions to their projects and demonstrate in a step-by-step process exactly how to finish a task or create a project with visual aids. Users also can communicate with others in comment sections below each Instructable step to show their opinions or ask questions. “The concept of the Instructables website is inspired by a notion of creativity and innovation, as it is a place where individuals can share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others.”(CrunchBase, 2009) I followed a post which is about how to make cakes that look like 1UPs from Super Mario Bros. The author named Nachimir published this instruction in April, 2009 and there are 39,926 views now. The author posted 7 steps such as Collect, Melt, Mix, Bake, Dip and so on accomplished by visual aids, 7 photos, to share his process of producing projects (Nachimir, 2009). There are 101 comments followed this instruction and most comments show the favor of the instruction. A user named Kelseyrobin (2009), who commented this post, said, “these are amazing! i love your overly detailed pictures hahaha they helped out a ton!” “now thats nice AND cute… hehehehe.. i really liked the idea and its looks.. im pretty sure my friends would be happy when i gave them some of those.. thanks! :D,” another user named Capitansid (2008) commented. In addition, some users also show their productions which are made by following the steps demonstrated in the instruction. Therefore, I think Instructables is a good communication form for people to share thoughts and opinions with others.
I become involved in Instructables because I am interested in the features of this online forum, which is considered as a special platform to communicate for creative users. One of the features, I think, is the language. Instructables has some particular language, including DIY, Slideshow, Burning Questions, and Instructables Robot. For example, DIY is short for Do-It-Yourself, which mean making things by users’ selves and saving some money rather than buying expensive stuff. Besides, Instructables Robot means the Instructable’s mascot, whose main function is to greet new members and alert members when they receive comments or messages (Keith-Kid, 2008). Another example is Slideshow, which means showing something that people have made, but do not have enough documentation or material for a full instruction, is different from instructions (Keith-Kid, 2008). What’s more, Burning Question means “a regular event in Instructables, where the staff posts a list of Wanted Instructables that haven’t been made. Users submit their entries and the best instructable that answers a question on the list wins a prize.” (Keith-Kid, 2008) The other feature is the multimodal ways for users to show themselves. Members of Instructables can upload text, photos, diagrams and videos to write instructions. Besides Instructions, members can also ask questions, submit slideshows and submit groups on Instructables website (Instructables, 2009). So, users can not only show themselves and communicate with others by uploading text, photos and videos to create instructions, but also join various groups.
After observing Instructables, I found some helpful information of it and I can answer following questions by analysing the result of observation. The first question is who is allowed to speak. I found that only the members of Instructables can post in the forums and comment. Secondly, how to decide the turn-taking? I think that after a member submitting a new instruction, other users can comment on it. If any users do not understand some steps in the post, they can ask whey they reply. The length may be not limited. In addition, I also realize the treatment of ‘noobs’, which means the green hand of Instructables. Instructable website welcomes ‘noobs’ to join the community and encourages anyone of Instructables to help ‘noobs’. Instructables creates the FAQ Center to help ‘noobs’ to become familiar with how to use Instructables. Besides, the Instructables Robot is also designed to help ‘noobs’ (Instructables, 2009). “The helpful community and knowledgeable members will not hesitate to ask questions or share their own experiences with a project.”(Wikipedia, 2009) In other words, if users have problems and want to seek help from others, they can submit questions or accept help from comments directly because in this online community, everyone can be pleasure to help others. Moreover, I think it is not easy to answer who are power users, because there is no class in Instructables. But, I found that the staff of Instructables may be power users here because they have some special rights like posting a list of Wanted Instructables (Keith-Kid, 2008). Furthermore, who/what is a troll? The rules made by Instructables to distinguish offensive materials from other posts said that materials related to pornography, unlicked language, insults and flaming, and spam are considered offensive and should be avoided (Keith-Kid, 2008). Therefore, I think users who submitted offensive materials including pornography, insults and flaming and spam, can be considered as trolls.
In conclusion, although different online forums have different ways of operation and different features, online communities have become an important and popular way for people to communicate with others. In this report, I used the techniques in observation analysis, including ethnography and participant observation. Though I try combining the observation with conservation analysis, I cannot acquire more helpful information from other users on Instructables directly because the time is not enough for me to interview other users and do the interview analysis.
References:
Capitansid 2008, accessed 22/10/2009, http://www.instructables.com/id/1UP-Cakes/?comments=all
CrunchBase 2009, Instructables, accessed 21/10/2009, http://www.crunchbase.com/company/instructables
Instructables 2009, accessed 22/10/2009, http://www.instructables.com/
Keith-Kid 2008, FAQ Center (Under Construction!), accessed 22/10/2009, http://www.instructables.com/community/FAQ-Center/
Kelseyrobin 2009, accessed 22/10/2009, http://www.instructables.com/id/1UP-Cakes/?comments=all
Nachimir 2009, 1UP Cakes, accessed 22/10/2009, http://www.instructables.com/id/1UP-Cakes/?comments=all
Wikipedia 2009, Instructables, accessed 21/10/2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructables
