CREATING FOLKLORIC CONTENT THROUGH DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHICAL APPROACH: EXAMPLE OF BEAUTIFUL PLATEAU PROVERBS ON FACEBOOK PAGE (https://www.facebook.com./profile,php?id=100083592271368&mibextid=ZbWKwL)

Abstract

The question of modes and approaches to the theory and practice of digital folklore in Africa has remained a concern to both ethnographers and folklorists. Hence, this paper proposes a digital ethnographical approach to creating digital folkloric content in the new media using Facebook as a case in point. It should be noted that ethnography, being a way of practising research by a written description and narration of a people after observing their daily lives, also has a longing for adaptation in the digital space. Thus, with the example of Beautiful Plateau Proverbs a compendium of 2D animated proverbs from the myriad ethnic groups of Plateau State in North-Central Nigeria published on an eponymous Facebook Page, the study suggests how both digital folklore and digital ethnography research can become more meaningful when engaged through an inter-disciplinary mode. It is the mission of this research to identify key ideas in off line cultures such as language, music, semiotic symbols as a way of presenting actual cultures while also showcasing rhetorical aspects of folklore on the cyber space. Hopefully, this means of creating folkloric content will enrich virtual experiences of online audience.