Sociology of Culture Commons^™

Understanding Virtuality: Contributions From Goffman’S "Frame Analysis", Joann Brooks

JoAnn M. Brooks

Virtual interactions are normally assumed to be separate and distinct from the “real world,” yet they are also situated within material reality. In this paper I propose that a situated approach to understanding virtuality can be developed through drawing from Goffman’s Frame Analysis (1974/1986). I explain how Goffman’s terminology and concepts afford a way of integrating the study of virtual interaction with the study of social interaction more generally. His frame analysis approach offers constructs useful for distinguishing virtual worlds from each other and from real worlds in a way that is consonant with perspectives on human-computer interaction. His language …