Social media offer a wealth of data for researchers as well as ethical questions for researchers and IRBs. While federal regulations do not specifically reference social media, human subjects research through social media platforms must still comply with federal and institutional policies. This presentation will help researchers navigate ethical issues that arise during human subjects research using social media data. The following are some of the topics we will address to help researchers navigate IRB review of human subjects research with social media data:

• Determining if a study is “human subjects research”
• Recruitment on various social media platforms
• Terms of Service and permissions to access data
• Informed Consent: When is it required? How to obtain it?
• Privacy and confidentiality

Pre-registration is recommended.