Feminist Research in online spaces

2019

In this article, the authors consider how their engaged practices of feminist ethics have come up against specific dominant normatives. Privileging the experiences of women of color, they question the embodied relationship they have with their research participants, and offer their methodological approaches for addressing ethical challenges that have surfaced through conducting their research in both digital and non-digital spaces and places. Collectively, they collaborate to develop newfound strategies and methodologies for negotiating the often mundane, micro-level moments of friction that prevents intersectional phronesis. Overall, they pitch ethical research practices for digital and non-digital research with diverse subjects of different races, backgrounds, and cultures such that voice(s) are not compromised during research.

Qualitative Research Journal Vol. 13, No. 1, 2013

Purpose -This paper aims to explore the methodological and epistemological assumptions that have foregrounded the author's research into discursive activism in Australian feminist blogs, and a discussion of her research methods and why they were appropriate to this study. In particular, it seeks to discuss internet research methods and approaches toward the study of a feminist network online in order to make a case for methodological approaches that are feminist in themselves and aimed toward discursive change. The author recognises the political and personally affective nature of research. Design/methodology/approach -The project design and methodology of the study draws on traditions of feminist online ethnography and feminist standpoint methodology, using a combination of face-to-face semi-structured interviews, modified grounded theory, network analysis, and participant observation. Findings -The author used a community-curated online "carnival" to minimise problems of researcher navigation, and explore the pitfalls of insider research, and she discusses the success of looking for contradiction as a method of privileging disagreement in research. Originality/value -The original contribution of this paper is toward the uses of disagreement, contradiction, discursive rupture, and dislocation in modified grounded theory analysis. The theoretical perspectives discussed in this paper are compatible with a view of subjectivity that allows for discursive political agency, and also encourage an ethics of listening and respect for difference that includes considerations of affect, inequality and power relations in the study of online communities.

As shifts in technology and culture have complicated traditional definitions of privacy, researchers need new approaches to navigating privacy in online contexts. In this article, we argue that the experiences and perceptions of vulnerable groups must form the starting point for online researchers' ethical decision-making, regardless of whether their research population qualifies as 'vulnerable.' This is especially important in spaces where privacy violations put people, particularly marginalized individuals, at risk for online harassment and abuse, among other harms. We seek to intervene in online research practices by putting forth a feminist approach to privacy, drawing on two studies related to online harassment. Specifically, we argue that feminist theory and methodology inform an approach to privacy that (a) starts from the lives of socially and politically vulnerable groups, (b) takes an intersectional approach to analyzing power relations, and (c) draws on a moral imperative of care and responsibility in enacting feminist principles of context, dialogue, and reflexivity throughout the research process. In doing so, we offer questions to prompt critical reflection on privacy concerns in online research.

Feminist Media Studies, 2014

Feminist Media Studies, 2002

In this paper, I will discuss a situation that I refer to as the “SAWnet refusal.” The situation arises out of my attempt at a cyberethnography of the electronic discussion group SAWnet (South Asian Women's Network), and it raises complex issues in relation to feminist ethnography and feminist Internet research. Briefly stated, what happened was that in the spring of 1994 I began to research a South Asian women's e-mail discussion list. In the summer of 1995, this study was interrupted (this is what I refer to as the “refusal”) and my ...

The process of studying culture is one of comprehension, encapsulation and control. To say otherwise is to deny our impulses and roles as scholars and scientists. At a very basic level, we go there to learn something about Other and, when we think we have something figured out, we strive to find a good way to tell others what we think we know. To accomplish this goal, we must stop for a moment the flood of experience, extract a sample of it for inspec-tion, and re-present it in academic terms with no small degree of abstraction. Under the conceptual umbrella of text, this article discusses some of the deci-sions we make as researchers representing ourselves and representing others throughout the research project and in our research reports. This paper is based on a talk I gave in 2002 in Trondheim, Norway, at a small conference entitled "Making Common Ground: Methodological and Ethical Issues in Internet Research"

This article explores the relevance of the ethnographic study of the Internet for feminist scholars interested in families. The online world is an emerging field site for feminist scholars investigating spousal, parental, and kin relations, one that opens up new arenas of study but also requires novel methodological approaches. The proliferation of cyber-communities and computer-mediated communication has radically altered how we live, communicate, and gather, share, and produce knowledge. This is particularly true for families, as new media technologies have impacted how families form, interact, and understand themselves and the world. Web 2.0 offers the potential for new imagined communities, new forms of social and political resistance, and new identities and networks that can transcend or reinforce traditional understandings of community, nation, and family. This article begins with a critical review of relevant literature (primarily from the United States) and offers several case studies that show the relevance of cyber-ethnography to feminist researchers interested in families. As the cases illustrate, ethnographers face new methodological and ethical issues associated with cyber studies and cyber-ethnography. Given the changing media landscapes families find themselves in, scholars of gender and families are well served to think through the effects of new media on families and the methodological benefits and challenges for studying these new forms of communication. A specific case study of the white nationalist movement is explored.

Journal of International Women's Studies, 2023

In the continually evolving digital landscape, the impact of digital platforms and social media on feminist activism, representation, and women's interactions has been transformative, offering unparalleled opportunities for women's expression and connectivity (McLean et al., 2016). However, this evolution has spotlighted escalating concerns regarding online harassment (Megarry, 2014) and its profound implications for women in these spaces (Toffoletti et al., 2023). This proposed special issue of the Journal of International Women’s Studies intends to explore how women engage with and are affected by digital platforms, social media, and technology in the spheres of activism, self-representation, and online harassment (Gillett, 2023). This initiative seeks to unravel the intricate interplay between digital platforms, feminism, and women's experiences in online spaces, contributing to a nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities posed by technology in contemporary feminist discourse (Morrow et al., 2015).

This chapter explores the transition from audience studies to cyberethnography on the basis of the author’s own experience in doing research in computer- mediated communication and in teaching in online environments. The chapter describes her experience in developing methodologies for studying Internet inter- actions through theoretical perspectives by drawing on postcolonial feminist theories and critical cultural studies. Doing ethnography at online/offline inter- sections requires a hands-on approach, whereby the researcher works to build techno-mediated contexts while simultaneously living in them and also staying connected to related contexts offline. Such an immersive methodology allows the researcher to understand computer-mediated communication in global envi- ronments. In particular, the author refers to her experience of the “South Asian Women’s network (SAWnet) refusal,” as she developed her cyberethnographic methodologies in the early 1990s. She describes her experience in developing appropriate research methods to study such Internet-based global media.