EAGER: Ethical and Methodological Challenges in Social Media Research

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

An estimated 90% of youth are engaged in social media daily, and most are using multiple platforms. By all accounts, this is a critical space for exploring psychological development, stigma, and sociality. Yet little is known about what their day-to-day engagement within social media actually looks like. As an Early-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER), this project explores the ethical and methodological challenges of conducting human subjects research when recruitment is solicited through social media accounts. The ethics and logistics of capturing data riddled with identifying information, such as photos, screen names, posts about locations, posts where identifiable information is tagged, etc. is a challenge in terms of storing the data, analyzing it, making it available in a publicly accessible repository, and sharing it in resulting publications and presentations. What challenges does this research platform present for the removal of identifying information? To what extent does cleaning the data to protect anonymity impact the researcher's ability to convey the multidimensionality and richness of what happens in these social media realms? Does the process of protecting anonymity impact the type and amount of digital data gathered/captured? A central goal of this project is to explore the ethical and logistical boundaries of conducing participant observation in these private social media realms. As a project aimed at understanding the dynamics of constantly evolving technologies and their impact on work, this project contributes to NSF's investment in Work at the Human-Technology Frontier. Dr. Nicole Taylor of Texas State University, San Marcos, will conduct research on a sample of 50 male and female undergraduate students aged 18-22. This population was chosen because little is known about how college students experience and negotiate stigma in online social media forums. Researchers have established that the college years represent a period of major transition in nearly all areas of life, which influence social, physical, and psychological development, as well as future productivity in the workforce. The research setting serves an ethnically diverse student population and therefore provides an opportunity to generate a more reliable, robust, and representative research sample. Methods will include (1) a brief participant survey to gather demographic and social media use information; (2) participant observation within the 2-3 social media platforms most commonly used by the study population; (3) semi-structured interviews with participants; (4) focus group interviews with participants and their friends. A central goal of this exploratory research is to develop and pilot a method for conducting participant observation within the most commonly used social media platforms among college students. Dr. Taylor will explore the ethical and logistical boundaries of conducting participant observation in these more private social media realms where network invitations must be invited and accepted. For example, how can social media data be captured in a way that maintains participant anonymity and follows ethical guidelines, while also maintaining the fluid nature of youth engagements with social media? Findings will be disseminated in such a way as to impact public health efforts, which are typically based on large scale quantitative surveys, by offering in-depth accounts of how a diverse group of youth negotiate the intersection of their online and real world communities.