Doing some ethnographic observations: The Final Stage

[iceman57]

Just another thinking, you wrote that people are less flamewaring than in Football, but...
Do people share only if the "one" series is not interesting them ? I mean, is this because they already have a similar or better in inventory, or because the information they provide is not damaging a coming "one" listed item that they focus.

[sensei]

The irony here is that some of us come with very specific and limited interests. I was exclusively a Cardcaptor Sakura collector when I joined Beta. But through the contacts and activities, I became aware that there were many more series deserving of my attention.

So Anime-Beta made me competitive in more series than I had been before, rather than less.

Or perhaps the process is also governed by "restitution" (a nice semiotic term I'm appropriating here). By being more aware of opportunities in many series, I'm less ruthless in going for the CCS high end items. That in turn helps the community by opening the door for newer collectors to build nice collections in this area while I'm busy annoying people by bidding on Rozen Maiden and Inuyasha.

[iceman57]

Other interesting ideas...

Do you think that in such collection universe, people with really confortable ressource, may be able to light counterfire on competitor identified willed items just to drain the competitor buying capacity for the coming "one" item they are waiting for.

Do you think that a kiddish reaction may appear as we're dealing with so called originally kids destination items (now 30 years later considered as vintage art), such as "I'll make the price higher till my maximum capacity just because I'm not the winner, haha".

[sensei]

Do you think that a kiddish reaction may appear as we're dealing with so called originally kids destination items (now 30 years later considered as vintage art), such as "I'll make the price higher till my maximum capacity just because I'm not the winner, haha".

Yes, as discussed in this thread. If my paper were not already pushing the upper limits, I would certainly mine this thread for interesting comments and bidding tactics.

As crappy as being the underbidder is, that person has the honor of determining exactly what that item is worth: his or her high bid "and two bits" as Judd Frye from the musical Oklahoma would say.

Plus you get to determine the item's value for free! You keep every cent of your money to bid on something else tomorrow!

Losing still feels crappy....

[Joost]

Cannot wait to read that powerhouse work of yours!!

[ginga123]

cool

[sensei]

A heads up to all Betarians, and especially to those who helped me with my project lo these many months ago: My essay "Love and War and Anime Art: An Ethnographic Look at a Virtual Community of Collectors" is now in print and available for reading.



http://www.usu.edu/usupress/books/index.cfm?isbn=8893

I'm very pleased with how this essay turned out through umteen revisions and critical readings. And I hope that it raises consciousness in academic circles on how the Internet has not been an isolating factor but in fact has enabled a host of new forms of interaction possible, ranging over wide areas and indeed (as we all know) across oceans and national borders. I also hope that my comments on why anime generates such a strong following, over and above the flat crack that constitutes genga and celga, also help put discussion of this art form on a stronger and more sympathetic academic track.

It's already available through Amazon and other services and should be up soon in snippets on Google Books. But for those who can't wait to have a look at this "powerhouse work" (as Joost says), here's a sneak peek.



All of you who wished to be acknowledged by name and/or Beta handle, your names appear on pp. 209-210 (beginning with Angelic-Lair and ending with zerospace). For those who helped in smaller ways or who did not want to be so directly credited, my sincerest thanks, and also to the Beta community at large for being willing to let me lurk, inquire, take notes, and make interpretations.

[Joost]

Amazing to see this! I'm very happy for you, this work will be bought and I will read it off course

Does the QR code works ?

[iceman57]

Excellent!

[sensei]

Does the QR code work ?

I'm still Web 2.0, so I don't know. But the Web 3.0 editor claims that they do. One directs readers to Beta and another to Rubberslug. So as the book gets used we may see some new traffic through this site.

[Keropi]

That's pretty neat. Nice to see all your work is finally coming out.

here's a sneak peek.

"Uwa...Mabushii!!"

Sorry...just couldn't resist saying that.

[Yupa]

Wow, congratulations! I read your essay a year ago and I really liked it, so I'm happy to see it got published.