Virtually Initiated: A Personal Account of ASAONET’s Impact on the Life of a Young Anthropologist

Abstract

The ASAONET listserv began in 1992, and the author of this account subscribed in 1997, immediately after returning from his first fieldwork in Vanuatu. Before attending his first meeting of the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania (ASAO) in 2005, the email exchanges he witnessed between members provided food for his imagining what sort of community ASAO was. But even though at a number of points he was tempted to jump into the discussions, anxiety got the better of him and his interaction remained at the level of observation. He finally replied to the full list in response to one question, and the information he provided was much appreciated. But almost twenty years after signing up, he still hasn't initiated an ASAONET posting, the reasons for which are examined in this paper – which, even as far as auto-ethnographies go, is highly idiosyncratic.