Abstract
This paper presents an unconventional approach to the resolution of the key ethical dilemmas raised by the study of politically charged personal content posted on social media. In particular, this study suggests that Internet research ethics should remain informed by the disciplinary perspectives of those who study online communities. Hence, Internet scholars must build on established ethical practices from their respective disciplines in such a way as to address these ‘human-centred’ ethical issues. A ‘medium-cloaked’ strategy towards data anonymization was adopted for this study of the comments posted on the Facebook pages of UK disability rights groups. Key themes were typically conveyed without the disclosure of personally identifiable information and direct quotes were only used if they could not be located using a search engine. The rationale for such an approach is elucidated in order to identify the limitations in the ways in which such ethical issues are dealt with in existing guidelines in this area. The paper suggests that the automatic categorization of disabled people and others experiencing disadvantage as ‘vulnerable groups’ in many of these protocols might further disempower these stakeholders through the omission of their personal stories from relevant scholarship. A more nuanced approach towards the protection of user privacy is advocated; one that allows for the use of direct quotes when it is unlikely to prove harmful to the user but also sets out to provide the maximum level of anonymity possible for those who divulge sensitive information in these semi-public spaces.
Highlights
This is a preprint of an article whose final and definitive form will be published in Information, Communication & Society
This study suggests that Internet research ethics should remain informed by the disciplinary perspectives of those who study online communities
Internet scholars must build on established ethical practices from their respective disciplines in such a way as to address these Ôhuman-centredÕ ethical issues
Summary
Stories in campaign messages because of the perceived risk that they could be framed in ways that reinforce negative disability stereotypes and fuel victimization (Barnett & Hammond, 1999). The relevance of these results was further enhanced by the fact that the vast majority of personal accounts had been posted directly by disabled Internet users (Figure 1) This was a testimony to the fact that welfare policy, while a seemingly dry and ÔtechnicalÕ topic, had clearly resonated with many in the disability community. This tendency was strong on the pages sponsored by two of the groups listed above: The Broken of Britain and The Hardest Hit (Table 2) This suggested that personal experiences provided disabled users with a lens to interpret the effects of policy measures and participate in relevant online conversations. Topic of posts containing The Broken of Britain (%) personal stories of disability
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