Internet and social media can be used in research.
We normally use social media to keep in touch with friends, share thoughts, values or experiences. Social media enable people to interact by sharing and receiving information.
We could be using it to connect with prospective participants of our study, organisations we need to approach, or even network with other researches to share ideas. We might also be able to design surveys on some of the platforms. At times, on social media it is more likely that the message will be read as opposed to e-mails. On LinkedIn, for example, we may be sharing our research and connect with other professionals.
Let's look at some of the main platforms and ways we can use them for research.
Ethical considerations
Before we start the topic, we must be aware that people act differently online and offline so that the online research could not represent a real world.
Research using anonymous sources can provide inaccurate conclusions due to exaggerated views. Someone's viewpoint may be affected by impulsive comments on social media as people may held them for a moment in time. There are also inaccurate and "fake" profiles that can lead to inaccurate findings.
When performing research, participants should provide informed consent and researches to guarantee anonymity. Both are needed. Consent is legally and morally required. It also promotes trust among the researcher and the participants. We may need it to publish photos or other graphics. Some posts may be consider personal or make profit for the participants, thus consent is mandatory. Anonymity is needed to avoid harm or further judgement and to preserve personal reputation.
We can perform the research based on social media in 3 fundamental steps:
1. Recruitment. We tell the participants where we have found their contact details. We also ask them how they would like to be contacted during the research. We provide information of our own social media to increase credibility. It is important to give them information on the privacy and security, as well as, explain the purpose of the research and why we are conducting it.
2. Collecting data. Some people may consider their views on social media as their intellectual property.
3. Report results. Gain consent to use quotations, images or videos. Be specific in your report on where you found the data.
The research process
Clear research design, accurate research questions and selection of proper analytical tools are vital. We must remember, however, that people might not behave the same way online as offline. Should we ignore negative and upsetting posts? This is speculative. It might be worth asking them the same question some time after. Permissions may affect the way participants respond to research questions. Researcher can provide them with a choice of using the data anonymously and this will secure more authentic views.
As with any research we need to ask ourselves the following questions:
* What are the research goals?
* Why do we want to know them?
* Who do we need to reach?
* Which digital platform would be most effective?
* How much time we have?
* What time of the day we need to engage in social media?
It is easy to loose track of time online. Therefore, we must plan the research activity and try to stick to the schedule.
It is important to consider our profile and how we appear to other people. It needs to be professional. We are to be serious about our research work. Our photo should also be professional. Smile, look directly into the camera and it should be a headshot. Wear smart clothes.
LinkedIn and Facebook allow to create professional profiles, take advantage of it. If you create your own page, ensure it stays active. You may also join a network to share information and discuss your own views.
A search in Goggle produces results in seconds. You may enter the whole question or try different questions with the same goal. At times, entering single keywords is also helpful. The keywords may be within the context of the research. Google will work out the results.
You may also use Boolean Search. It is the way of organising your search by using a combination of keywords and the main search operations "and", "or" and "not" to produce more accurate results. It might seem complicated, but we can learn to use it effectively.
Google Scholar enables to search copies of books, articles or reports. There is many of free available resources for a new researcher.
Google Alerts can also be helpful. Just type "Create an alert about..." and Google will send you an e-mail notification when posts are made including your keywords. You may insert several words of phrases and cover range of topics. It will not notify about historical posts.
There are also academic dictionaries used for producing information to find academic resources. Academia.adu is a free academic research website with many papers available to access. It allows to search for relevant research papers. ResearchGate, Athenus, BioMedSearch, Jurn, Microsoft Academic Search, Figshare can be used.
Asana is a free project management platform. It can be effective for notes, deadlines, meetings and documents associated with your research. Skype and Zoom can be used to conduct interviews. Basic version of Zoom is free. You can record the meetings and downland them. Skype provides similar features.
Survey Monkey is a user friendly survey platform. It allows to design and send surveys via their e-mail address. The basic version allows to ask 10 questions and receive up to 100 responses.
Evernote is an online platform for note taking and saving. It also enables you to make audio recordings. Audionotes allows to combine recording with a notepad. These can be useful for keeping records.
Blogs are generally used as a type of journal or diary. We can follow others blogs and posts. Some bloggers update their website daily. They can be used as a source of data to exchange political ideas. There are also research blogs to inform about a progress of your research, publishing project updates and they may include hyperlinks or other useful websites.
Using social media
LinkedIn allows to create our CV with a more personal touch. It focuses on your academic and professional life. You can connect to other members and join groups.
Twitter allows to use the hashtag (#) to identify subjects. You can start your own conversation and built relationships. You may want to join the research community on Twitter. Share links to publications, ask for help, network, share thoughts and experiences. There is no geographical boundaries. It is important to convey your personality and built relationships.
Facebook can be used to network with researches and share your ideas.
Social media look promising for research as they can reach a high number of people.
On Youtube we can save useful videos. We can subscribe to someone else's channels and create our own.
Hootsuit allows to see your social media accounts in one dashboard and monitor posts easily.
I hope that the information will help you to organise and plan your research. Social media can be powerful and save you money and time. Although we need to be careful as social media can be addictive. You may use it to communicate with participants and find relevant information for your work.
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