Open AccessMeasuring Americans’ Comfort With Research Uses of Their Social Media Data
Author(s) -
Sarah Gilbert,
Jessica Vitak,
Katie Shilton
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
social media + society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 32
ISSN - 2056-3051
DOI - 10.1177/20563051211033824
Subject(s) - vignette , social media , variety (cybernetics) , data collection , psychology , domain (mathematical analysis) , research data , computer science , internet privacy , data science , world wide web , applied psychology , social psychology , sociology , data curation , artificial intelligence , social science , mathematical analysis , mathematics
Research using online datasets from social media platforms continues to grow in prominence, but recent research suggests that platform users are sometimes uncomfortable with the ways their posts and content are used in research studies. While previous research has suggested that a variety of contextual variables may influence this discomfort, such factors have yet to be isolated and compared. In this article, we present results from a factorial vignette survey of American Facebook users. Findings reveal that researcher domain, content type, purpose of data use, and awareness of data collection all impact respondents’ comfort—measured via judgments of acceptability and concern—with diverse data uses. We provide guidance to researchers and ethics review boards about the ways that user reactions to research uses of their data can serve as a cue for identifying sensitive data types and uses.