As my time spent playing Minecraft is not only for pure virtual mining and construction enjoyment (its so much fun! …and addictive), but also to further my study of Virtual Ethnography as part of my current coursework in DkIT, i thought it would be a good idea to put together a short questionnaire to put up on the Minecraft forum and hopefully get some good solid data from the online community i now feel a part of. Seeing as im only a recent member of roughly 3 weeks contribution to the community i thought it best to keep this relatively short and sweet with about 9 short questions.

Heres my post on the forum:

“Hi guys!

I’m currently doing a Virtual Ethnography assignment as part of college work and I thought it would be great to do it on the Minecraft Forum seeing as I use it a lot already. Virtual Ethnography is the study of people interacting in an online community.

So basically, I’m looking at how us members on the Minecraft forum communicate compared to offline members. If you could, please answer the following questions and I will be forever in your debt (I have diamonds!).

1. What is your age and gender?
2. How often do you visit the Minecraft forum?
3. How often do you post on the forum?
4. What do you think is the best aspect of communicating with members on this forum?
5. Do you communicate with members of the community in other virtual ways other than this forum? For example: email, messenger services, etc…
6. Do you find it easier to communicate and voice your opinions on the forum rather than offline and face to face?
7. Do you communicate with member’s offline?
8. Do you communicate with members more online or offline? Why do think this is so?
9. Does being a member of this community influence how you play Minecraft? If so, how so?

Even if you only answer a few questions it will seriously help me out with my studies and if you think there is anything else I should know please feel free to tell me.

Thanks guys!

-ShuckMan101 (Virtual miner)”

I have been relatively active on the forum since joining so hopefully this post wont be seen as some sort of spam or marketing ploy, but a fellow Minecraftian in need. Just posted so no replies yet. Will update if/when i do get them!:)