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Facebook's Emotional Contagion Experiment as a Challenge to Research Ethics
[journal article]
Abstract This article analyzes the ethical discussion focusing on the Facebook emotional contagion experiment published by the 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' in 2014. The massive-scale experiment manipulated the News Feeds of a large amount of Facebook users and was successful in proving t... view more
This article analyzes the ethical discussion focusing on the Facebook emotional contagion experiment published by the 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' in 2014. The massive-scale experiment manipulated the News Feeds of a large amount of Facebook users and was successful in proving that emotional contagion happens also in online environments. However, the experiment caused ethical concerns within and outside academia mainly for two intertwined reasons, the first revolving around the idea of research as manipulation, and the second focusing on the problematic definition of informed consent. The article concurs with recent research that the era of social media and big data research are posing a significant challenge to research ethics, the practice and views of which are grounded in the pre social media era, and reflect the classical ethical stances of utilitarianism and deontology.... view less
Keywords
social media; facebook; emotionality; data capture; research; science ethics; data protection; privacy; methodology
Classification
Interactive, electronic Media
Sociology of Science, Sociology of Technology, Research on Science and Technology
Research Design
Free Keywords
Big data; emotional contagion; informed consent; manipulation; research ethics; user data
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
Page/Pages
p. 75-85
Journal
Media and Communication, 4 (2016) 4
Issue topic
Successes and Failures in Studying Social Media: Issues of Methods and Ethics
ISSN
2183-2439
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed