This Isn't Your Data, Friend: Black Twitter as a Case Study on Research Ethics for Public Data

While research has been conducted with and in marginalized or vulnerable groups, explicit guidelines and best practices centering on specific communities are nascent. An excellent case study to engage within this aspect of research is Black Twitter. This research project considers the history of research with Black communities, combined with empirical work that explores how people who engage with Black Twitter think about research and researchers in order to suggest potential good practices and what researchers should know when studying Black Twitter or other digital traces from marginalized or vulnerable online communities. From our interviews, we gleaned that Black Twitter users feel differently about their content contributing to a research study depending on, for example, the type of content and the positionality of the researcher. Much of the advice participants shared for researchers involved an encouragement to cultivate cultural competency, get to know the community before researching it, and conduct research transparently. Aiming to improve the experience of research for both Black Twitter and researchers, this project is a stepping stone toward future work that further establishes and expands user perceptions of research ethics for online communities composed of vulnerable populations.

Automated summary

Although research has been conducted with marginalized or vulnerable groups, there is a lack of explicit guidelines and best practices specifically focused on these communities. Black Twitter serves as an excellent case study to explore how people engage with research and researchers. Through interviews, it was found that Black Twitter users have varying opinions about their content being used in research, depending on factors such as content type and researcher's position. Recommendations for researchers include cultivating cultural competency, getting to know the community before conducting research, and ensuring transparency in the research process. This project aims to improve the research experience for both Black Twitter users and researchers and pave the way for future studies on research ethics in online communities with vulnerable populations.