I left Facebook a long time ago.
I’m back now because I think many of my potential PhD interview subjects will check me out there.
Transparency and consultation have been critical parts of this project from the beginning:
Research transparency
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climate change policy, science, and activism; photography; cartography and mapmaking
I’m curious, should you care to elaborate, what the downside(s) would be if the interview subjects had gone looking for you on facebook and found you to not have a profile.
It’s essentially for their convenience. Facebook is overwhelmingly dominant as a means of communication among university students. People simply don’t use other instant messaging systems anymore, and I have a sense that much of the discussion and decision making in the U of T campaign happened through Facebook (including during in-person meetings).
Facebook is so dominant they may even wonder if you’re a real person if not represented there.
More seriously, part of informed consent is communicating in ways that are natural and familiar to your research subjects, so it’s the natural place to make an effort to be transparent.
Very interesting stuff, thanks for elaborating.
Fingers crossed for Facebook’s monopoly on instant messaging to dissolve sometime soon.
(my fingers, anyhow…)