How can we use ethnomethodology to understand social inter­actions on the Internet? First, select a website that allows for people to interact with one another (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, your favorite interactive blog, an online discussion forum, the com­ments section of an article on your local newspaper’s website).

Now apply an ethnomethodological approach by observing the actions and interactions on the site. In what ways do conversations and interactions on the site you’ve chosen have stable and orderly properties? What rules and conventions keep the interactions orderly and stable? How do people know what is expected of them? Do people violate the rules? How do others respond when the rules are broken? Are the rules that govern online interactions different from the rules that govern face-to-face interactions?