Are you really one of us? Exploring ethics, risk and insider research in a private Facebook community

Researchers have only just begun grappling with the ethical implications of social media research, since more research is conducted online in virtual communities. Ethical review boards may not have the understanding or training to advise on projects with elements of social media research. This paper is a reflexive account that explores the author’s decision to undertake research in a private Facebook community, of which she was already a member. This paper details the negative response that was received from community gatekeepers, and explores the research decisions which elicited this response. This paper uses Lee-Treweek & Linkogle’s four-part framework for understanding researcher risk, and presents in this instance that the risk of social isolation faced by the researcher was too significant to proceed with the study. Insider research, and netnography are two complicated areas of research. This paper contributes to ongoing learning in this growing field. © 2018 Association for Computing Machinery.