Informed, uninformed and participative consent in social media research

Dan Nunan; B. Yenicioglu

doi:10.2501/IJMR-2013-067

Informed, uninformed and participative consent in social media research

Dan Nunan, B. Yenicioglu

Faculty of Business and Law

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The use of online data is becoming increasingly essential for the generation of insight in today's research environment. This reflects the much wide range of data available online and the key role that social media now plays in interpersonal communication. However, the process of gaining permission to use social media data for research purposes creates a number of significant issues when considering compatibility with professional ethics guidelines. This paper critically explores the application of existing informed consent policies to social media research and compares with the form of consent gained by the social networks themselves, which we label 'uninformed consent'. We argue that, as currently constructed, informed consent carries assumptions about the nature of privacy that are not consistent with the way that consumers behave in an the online environment. On the other hand uninformed consent relies on asymmetric relationships that are unlikely to succeed in an environment based on cocreation of value. The paper highlights the ethical ambiguity created by current approaches for gaining customer consent, and proposes a new conceptual framework based on participative consent that allows for greater alignment between consumer privacy and ethical concerns.

Original language	English
Journal	International Journal of Market Research
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2501/IJMR-2013-067
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2013

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abstract = "The use of online data is becoming increasingly essential for the generation of insight in today's research environment. This reflects the much wide range of data available online and the key role that social media now plays in interpersonal communication. However, the process of gaining permission to use social media data for research purposes creates a number of significant issues when considering compatibility with professional ethics guidelines. This paper critically explores the application of existing informed consent policies to social media research and compares with the form of consent gained by the social networks themselves, which we label 'uninformed consent'. We argue that, as currently constructed, informed consent carries assumptions about the nature of privacy that are not consistent with the way that consumers behave in an the online environment. On the other hand uninformed consent relies on asymmetric relationships that are unlikely to succeed in an environment based on cocreation of value. The paper highlights the ethical ambiguity created by current approaches for gaining customer consent, and proposes a new conceptual framework based on participative consent that allows for greater alignment between consumer privacy and ethical concerns.",

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Informed, uninformed and participative consent in social media research

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