blog and allowing participants to leave comments can provide transparency. Cyber-ethnography also allows for a variety of data collection types and including audiovisual formats, on various platforms such as websites, social networks and forums. Offline participant observation It is important for cyber-ethnographers to consider whether online interactions are sufficient for them to develop a deep understanding the community. It is not clear whether identity performances in online environments should be thought of as disjoint from offline identities or if they are continuous with offline identities. When researchers feel that understanding the relationship between the online and offline identities of members is necessary, they may seek to meet with informants face-to-face. Urban ethnographer Jeffrey Lane suggests that it may increasingly be necessary to weave online and offline identities of informants together in order to create an accurate portrayal of urban street life. He borrows media scholar Danah Boyd’s concept of “networked publics,” which are “simultaneously (1) the space constructed through networked technologies and (2) the imagined collective that emerges as a result of the intersection of people, technology, and practice,” to frame his argument. Interactions that take place offline may appear one way to a participant observer but are further contextualized when examining online forms of communication between the same parties involved in the offline interaction. In the same way, information that is transmitted online can significantly influence activities that take place offline. For instance, one of Lane’s informants encounters a video on Twitter suggesting that there are violent incidents taking place in the area. In response, he sends a text blast to all of his contacts to be cautious that evening. In order to preserve the construction of a networked public, researchers should take into consideration both online and offline identities and activities of individuals. Lane also acknowledges that not all scholars may agree with his argument, but they will eventually have to face the issue as advancements in technology continue to increase. However, other cyber-ethnographers have argued that difference between online and offline selves is similar to the different identity performances that occur in other contexts. This perspective views identity issues in cyber-ethnography as consistent with those of traditional ethnography. Researchers should thus consider how community members relate their online and offline selves. If it is normal for community members to bring together their online and offline identities and meet face-to-face then it makes sense that the ethnographer should