This chapter offers a handful of suggestions for further research into online niche black metal communities, extending primarily from the perspective of media studies and medium theory. Principally, it is noted that the fragmentary, fleeting nature of the online context can provide only a partial representation of the broader complexity that characterizes the real world, international black metal community. In this sense, while online communities can provide a dynamic space for constructing subcultural meaning and identity, the online context can also provide a setting for greater fragmentation, alienation, medium fatigue, and filter “bubbles” that stifle meaningful social interaction (and hence informative analysis). Lastly, it is suggested that an understanding of the black metal community’s deep relationship with its own analog-media past (which is also connected to notions of authenticity in the scene) can assist in better contextualizing current investigations into how both meaning and identity are constructed in the online, digital context.
Social Learning in the Real-World: ‘Over-Imitation’ Occurs in Both Children and Adults Unaware of Participation in an Experiment and Independently of Social Interaction
