Social networking research opportunities: the example of 'Netmums'

This paper describes how the Netmums social network has been used over recent years as a source of research and discusses whether this type of research has the potential to influence policy. Online social networks are a new phenomenon, but as they have increased in scale their potential to reflect the interests and experiences of real communities is starting to be recognised. While there is significant awareness of the ways in which social networks have recently been able to further democratic processes, there has been less focus on the opportunities that they provide to change local services and government policies. The research opportunities available through the Netmums social network are diverse and the website provides access to a rich resource, but there are a number of limitations to the research that can be conducted. As yet there is little evidence to demonstrate the influence that research based on the network might have, but a comparison of research methods shows that, despite these limitations, the use of communities such as Netmums should provide researchers and policy makers with cost-effective and powerful tools of influence in the future.