ethnography+of+the+slickdealers

Animoto Video: http://animoto.com/play/U96oa4YoELqY0pI8PKEj8g

I had to make a choice between making it fast-paced or more sedate; given that users have the option of pausing a slide but not the option of making the video run in fast forward, I opted for making it fast-paced. You won't see any pictures of people at all here, but that is consistent with the nature of this particular CoP - the very value of this CoP is in its disaggregated constitution. Look instead for context details, and look under the surface.

**Domain**: Members are united by their interest in finding bargains both online and B&M (brick and mortar stores). While all members are interested in "slick deals", their tastes vary. Among many things, the CoP allows members to learn a) what a slick deal is on a particular product b) which product would provide the most "bang for their buck" for a particular purpose and b) how to best take advantage of "slick deals".

**Domain Inside:** Members may often disagree about a deal, or about whether or not a product is of acceptable quality. For instance, some may argue that a hard drive, if sufficiently discounted, can still be a slick deal in spite of numerous documented cases of failure. Others may disagree. Through controversy, much learning is achieved for all members.

**Domain Outside:** The Slickdeals community has grown so large and well-organized that retailers and media have taken notice. The media often features articles on how Slickdeals is a good way for shoppers learn about bargains, and retailers hover between alternatingly trying to counter SD through such efforts as lobbying for online taxation changes, and trying to capitalize on the SD market through SD advertising.

**Practice**: Members often share their own personal experiences as well as information about a product. Sometimes, members know a lot more about a product given their professional expertise (ie., doctor, lawyer, electrician, biologist, hardcore online gamer). Because of the size of the SD community, there are often several experts in a single thread - debate ensues. Logical arguments are rewarded by community respect, and illogical arguments earn the scorn of many. Trolls (members who deliberate post inflammatory comments in order to attract attention) often appear, but are quickly refuted and then ignored when their trolling becomes apparent.

**Practice Learning from and With Each Other** In these slides, members are teaching each other about heat transfer thermodynamics (discussing the efficacy of radiators vs. ceramic heaters) as well as how to build a computer.

**Practice Through Formal and Informal Activities** Some of the activities are formal: through the usage of SD software on the website, or through the usage of specific apps for a myriad of technological devices like android tablets and smartphones. One of the slides shows the "Slick Alerts", which is a site-hosted application that sends text messages to users when a set-for deal is detected. There are also informal activities, such as Slickdealers who get together to play a game and review it when it first comes out (in the slide, Modern Warfare 2).

**Practice Learning from Sources Outside** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">Members often cite sources both to support their arguments as well as to help others less expert in a particular aspect of bargain hunting. One slide shows a user who has compiled a list of many outside sources useful for someone who wants to build a computer, or buy parts to buy a computer. Among the sources are guides on how to remove motherboards, which video cards are best for the money spent, and how to overclock processors.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">**Community Dimension:** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">Members are from all over the United States. There are indeed members from other countries as well, but their membership is limited as many of the deals in the States would not apply to them. Several slides here show that members are from NY, FL, MI ... as well as members who choose not to list their location. Because of the multitude of locations, however, one can be assured that there is always a sizable population online and there is always someone looking for deals.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">**Community Diversity and Engagement:** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">Members are from all ages and walks of life. Some are very wealthy professionals - bankers, scientists, members of the old money. Others are poor students. However, all have contributions that are valued - most of all because they can be where others can't. In exchange for their information and opportunities, members receive information that they otherwise would not.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">**Community Peripheral Participation** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">Not all members post frequently. Some do not post at all, preferring instead to "lurk" (simply read other's posts and take advantage of such information). While this is not discouraged, lurkers do not enjoy the degree of respect that is accorded to members who post regularly and share deals often. Some slides here show posters with 15,000 posts since 2007; others show users with 100 or less since 2005 or even earlier. Every post that a member makes is accompanied by some information on the user - thus, participation is rewarded by community standing.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">**Community Leadership** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">One final aspect of this CoP is its system of "ranking" and "reps". Users who post frequently gain rank - whether the post is useful or not still counts toward rank. With enough rank, users move from starting out as "Apprentice" to "Expert", "Master", "Grandmaster", and so on. However, "reps" can only be earned by having other members specifically click on a button and type a praising comment on that user's profile. Because giving a rep takes an amount of effort, reps are not easily gained. Therefore, a member with a high amount of rep is accorded a kind of respect that outweighs that of "ranking". A user who has a high rep can expect more polite and appreciative responses to his/her posts; a user with a low rep may often be ignored unless their post is substantially helpful. Finally, a "rep" from a user who seldom "reps" is worth several times more than a "rep" from a user who reps often. This gives members a sense that their reps have value and should be given out sparingly.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">Thanks for reading all this! Hope it helps. I really like the idea of CoPs and it took me a very long time to decide on one that I truly liked. I believe completely that CoPs like Slickdeals.net are the future - and the more we teachers change our practice to take advantage of these CoP elements, the more effective and less strained we will become.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,verdana,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">Kevin Chow