CYBERSEX OBSERVATION:

For this project you are to find one or more subjects who will allow you to observe them engaging the cybersex world via their phone, tablet or computer.  Here you are to observe how they engage people and ideas.  Depending on your subject’s comfort level you can either watch what they do silently or have them offer commentary on what they are doing and what needs it satisfies for them.  Possible cybersex observations:

1. Tinder.  Observe the choices your subject makes.  If possible, engage in discussion while they are making their choices.  

2. Dating Sites e.g. OKCupid, Plenty of Fish, Match.com, E-Harmony, Chemistry.com, Shaadi.com, and Craiglist Personals  Do they belong to more than one site?

3. Social Media Sites: Facebook, Snap Chat, Instagram, Twitter  -  Experiences with e-socializing leading to hookups and dating

Topics to Consider:

Do they receive responses?  What protocols follow?  

How do the “block” people they are not interested in?

How do they extend “offers” to people they want more connection with?

Do they then send links to Instagram or Facebook?  

What platforms do they chat on with potential dates?  

What experiences have they had meeting in person e.g. single-time hookups or serious dating?

Texting and Sexting.  

When they are focused on someone how often do they exchange texts?  

What is the content of their texts?

Do the engage in the “disinhition” effect?

Do they exchange photos and/or selfies?

Outline for your report:

Title Page (name of paper [pick something creative!], your name, name of course, instructors name, date of completion)

Introduction (who you observed (basic information about your subject(s), e.g. age, gender, etc)  and a brief overview of your findings.

Field Research Methods What methods did you use? (observations? interviews? )  Include reflections on how your subjects engage the cyber world differently than you do and/or differently from each other.

Description of Cybersex Cultural Activities (Discuss what you observed (re: mediums, sites, activities) as well as your subjects’ assessment of what cyber relating means to them.  Are there cultural rules/protocols they follow?  What are some sample interactions you observed?

Conclusion (What needs does this culture satisfy and how does it satisfy them? In what ways are the cultural practices effective?  Does cyber-relating enhance the social  and sexual lives of your subject(s)?  Have they met people outside of their immediate social circle?  Does it detract from their abilities to relate person-person?  Has it caused them to become more impatient / reduced their ability to pay attention to one thing or one person for very long?  

Areas for Further Research (If you were return, what other topics related to cybersex culture would you focus on?)

Bibliography (interview subjects and outside sources (Internet, books, articles; format on bottom of this page)

Things to Keep In Mind For Written Assignments

1. When using a computer, back-up your work on a thumb drive or on a cloud
2. Proofread! Read your paper aloud to catch awkward sentences.
3. Use “spell check,” but remember the three forms: their / they’re / there …and two / to / too
4. Spell alter and altar correctly!
5. Leave one space after a comma.
6. Spell out numbers under 11.
7. Spell any number that is at the beginning of a sentence.
8. A sentence needs a subject and a verb—otherwise it’s a fragment.
9. Write in your own words! If you want to maintain the exact wording of another source, use quotation marks or single space and indent the copied section and then use footnotes.
10. Don’t use words that you don’t understand.
11. Avoid “run-on-sentences,” by keeping your ideas focused.
12. Follow rules for proper hyphenation—divide words between syllables, making sure the second half begins with a consonant.
13. “Keep punctuation marks inside of quotation marks.”
14. Get help by turning in an early rough draft and/or using the campus writing center.

Bibliography Format:

*Alphabetize by author's last name, italicize publications, put quotes around articles and designate page numbers.

For a book:

Terray, Carl

    2016 Tinder Town; New York:  Monthly Review Press

For an article in a magazine, newspaper, or book:

Dalton, George

2014 "Burning Desires,” American Anthropologist No. 76 September 2014, p. 553.

For an oral communication (speech/interview):

Jackson, Miranda

    2015 Personal Communication, Van Nuys, CA,  October 10, 2015

For a television program:

Thomas, Stanley

     2013 "Twosomes and Threesomes," Nova Series, PBS Television

For an Internet site:

Chappel, Clinton (Important to FIND the author and the full name of the site)

    2013 “Hooking in San Francisco,” http://www.geocities.com/prostitution/SF, May 14, 2016

                                                                                                                        (date retrieved)

REFERENCES/FOOTNOTES:

For a direct quote: if it is four lines or more single space and indent, eg.

A man does not have full status in social life until he is married: has no

household of his own, and he is debarred from many privileges; hence

except for the physically and mentally handicapped, all mature Trobriands

           marry (Symons, 1999:113)

Referring to an author’s idea, but not quoting them directly:

Leakey (2015) saw than bipedalism was a natural adaptation to a savanna environment where more could be seen by standing upright.

Referring to ideas of an author without using the author’s name in your text:

The advantages of an omnivorous diet are numerous, especially in that intense foraging becomes possible in a limited area (Franklin, 2016).