The 2011 Theorizing the Web Conference at the University of Maryland brought together researchers from a multitude of disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, communication studies, information science, computer science, and art, to explore the how the online world is influenced, influences and augments the social world online and off. The conference describes this confluence by stating, “the social Web has the potential to change and/or reinforce some of our most fundamental social relationships, including those with others, our selves, our bodies and our experience with reality itself." In studying this change, researchers working in these environments also have to navigate new ethical spaces. What are the researcher’s ethical obligations when it can be unclear if one is studying a human subject, or if one is simply studying data? The researcher/participant relationship can be complicated in this changing online environment. In order to be able to answer the grand questions of how the social web is changing some of our most fundamental social relationships, a researcher must first be able to navigate the ethical conduct of one’s own research.

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) play an important role at the academic institution, helping to ensure that research is conducted in an ethical manner, that it is respectful of all research participants, and that it is compliant with legal regulations of research. IRBs play a strong role in helping researchers navigate the ethical conduct of research. At the same time, IRBs themselves are figuring out the new complications of the online research environment in determining what constitutes a human subject and how to best protect that participant. When a researcher is studying information on Web 2.0 platform, are they studying a person, or are they simply studying data? When individuals make public Facebook posts, are they implicitly consenting for that information to be used in studies? The 2011 Theorizing the Web Conference proved to be an ample opportunity to explore the relationship between IRBs, human subjects protections, research and researchers studying the online world.

No two IRBs are the same, and as such, there seemed to be as many different responses to questions about the role that IRBs have had in shaping and guiding presenter’s research as there were disciplines represented at the conference. In response to prompts about how IRBs were helping to shape or guide their work, many presenters noted that the intensity of IRB review was directly related to the types of data that they were collecting and the specific populations they were interested in. For instance, one researcher whose work focuses on how Facebook communication augments offline relationships, explained that the IRB at her institution had little concern about the information that she was collecting from Facebook profiles for a research study, but noted that in-person follow-up interviews would require a much closer approval.

While traditionally, IRBs are the formal body at academic institutions for research ethics oversight, some institutions may be inserting additional layers at the department level. Researcher Jes Koepfler, who presented work focusing on how homeless populations are using social networking sites, noted that in addition to the IRB human-subjects review process, her department also had a formal oversight and guidance role during the research process.

When one wants to understand how ethics and research meet in praxis, IRBs have traditionally been the body to look to. Less attention has been paid to the role of the department in informal research oversight and human subjects protections. By looking at how academics at the forefront of Internet research are experiencing ethical oversight and guidance in the research process, it is possible gain a better picture of the future of research ethics in the digital age.

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