Users' views of ethics in social media research: informed consent, anonymity and harm

Williams, Matthew L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2566-6063, Burnap, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0396-633X, Sloan, Luke ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9458-9332, Jessop, Curtis and Lepps, Hayley 2017. Users' views of ethics in social media research: informed consent, anonymity and harm. Woodfield, Kandy, ed. The Ethics of Online Research, Vol. 2. Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity, Emerald Publishing, pp. 27-52. (10.1108/S2398-601820180000002002)

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Abstract

Some researchers consider most social media communications as public, and posts from networks such as Twitter are routinely harvested and published without anonymization and without direct consent from users. In this chapter, we argue that researchers must move beyond the permissions granted by ‘legal’ accounts of the use of these new forms of data (e.g., Terms and Conditions) to a more nuanced and reflexive ethical approach that puts user expectations, safety, and privacy rights center stage. Through two projects, we present qualitative and quantitative data that illustrate social media users’ views on the use of their data by researchers. Over four in five report expecting to be asked for their consent and nine in ten expect anonymity ahead of publication of their Twitter posts. Given the unique nature of this online public environment and what we know about users’ views pertaining to informed consent, anonymity, and harm, we conclude researchers seeking to embark on social media research should conduct a risk assessment to determine likely privacy infringement and potential user harm from publishing user content.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Computer Science & Informatics
Publisher:	Emerald Publishing
ISBN:	9781787144866
Funders:	ESRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 October 2017
Date of Acceptance:	17 June 0003
Last Modified:	15 Apr 2024 13:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/105125

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