I screenshoted some posts and some comments that followed them on Twitter platform which I used in discussing attitude to corruption and gender issues in Nigeria.
I am yet to send out the manuscript for consideration in a journal, but here is my worry:
Is it unethical to use such posts and comments without getting the consent of those who made it?
Also, would erasing the faces and names of the commentators from the screenshoted comments serve as remedy or worsen it?
Please, I need advice on this.
I also would appreciate suggestions of other challenges I might encounter using this approach of data collection. Thank you in anticipation.
Usually, data on social issues are collected via varying means including ethnography, observations, interviews, questionnaires, and secondary data documented by appropriate bodies.
Results from questionnaires and interviews on social issues are sometimes weak owing to respondents biasness. The formal and pre-organized nature of questionnaire and interview administration may also be contributing to response biasness since respondents have opportunity to weigh and refine their thoughts the way they want it presented.
In my thinking, drawing people's comments on social issues (bothered on the particular issue you are discussing) from social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook appears promising alternative to the weaknesses of questionnaires and interviews since, most likely, some commentators could not have hidden their real thoughts and feelings at that moment of heat, pressure or provocations by an informal and non-preorganized exercise.
Thank you.
Intriguing question. I dug around on the internet a little bit, and it seems that tweets are considered copyrightable. But, under the Terms of Services, it looks like you can share tweets through Twitter's tools. For example, you could embed someone's post in your blog as long as it stayed within the Twitter API you were using. So, in the case of an academic publication, you would probably need permission.
In terms of research ethics, consent might not be necessary. If you are using Tweets from a public account, then it is generally assumed to be public information and not private. But, if it is shared from a private account, then you would probably need to get consent.
Here is the most succinct explanation I found, but it could be wrong.
https://www.howtogeek.com/310158/are-other-people-allowed-to-use-my-tweets/
Thank you @ Dr. Uchendu Chigbu.
@ Sir Eric Anthony, thank you. I have visited the link you provided. It is somewhat helpful. In my case, the posts were made public, the twitter handle, writer's face and name were all captured in the screenshots indicating that credit is given to them. I think I should just send the paper out to a journal and see the reaction I would get.
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