With its wealth of readily and often publicly available information about Web users’ lives, the W... more With its wealth of readily and often publicly available information about Web users’ lives, the Web has created new opportunities for conducting online research. Although digital data are easily accessible, ethical guidelines are inconsistent about how researchers should use them. Some academics claim that traditional ethical principles are sufficient and applicable to online research. However, the Web poses new challenges that compel researchers to reconsider concerns of consent, privacy and anonymity. Based on doctoral research into the investigation of online medicine purchasing, this article presents a case study involving online forums, and reviews the existing ethical guidance surrounding the Web. The suggestion is that new ethical guidelines, particularly in relation to informed consent and participants’ own perceptions of what is public or private, are needed owing to the unique challenges of online research.
A study of live methods including experimentation, attentiveness, collaboration, multi-media plat... more A study of live methods including experimentation, attentiveness, collaboration, multi-media platforms, public sociology, the game of social life and research, idiotic methods, scavenging, mapping and topologies Global in scope and inter-woven by theoretical and methodological considerations; Chapters emerge from the Methods Lab at Goldsmiths University which is committed to developing inventive ways of 'doing sociology'; Studies the practice of sociological imagination and the aim is to make social research responsive to social life - to bring it alive
Incels (involuntary celibates), a subgroup of the so called ‘manosphere,’ have become an increasi... more Incels (involuntary celibates), a subgroup of the so called ‘manosphere,’ have become an increasing security concern for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners following their association with several violent attacks. Once mostly contained on niche men’s forums, redpilled and blackpilled communities and theories are gaining prominence on mainstream social media platforms. However, whilst previous research considerably enhanced our understanding of the incel phenomenon and their presence on Reddit and secluded incel forums, incel’s presence on mainstream social media platforms is understudied and their presence on TikTok is yet to be addressed. The present paper examines the incel subculture on TikTok, through an analysis of incel accounts, videos and their respective comments, to understand the role mainstream social media platforms play in the ‘normiefication’ and normalisation of incel ideology and discourse. The findings suggest that on TikTok the expression of incel ideolo...
This chapter considers the new opportunities for purchasing medicine provided by the Web. These o... more This chapter considers the new opportunities for purchasing medicine provided by the Web. These opportunities are incorporated within the challenges to the pharmaceutical market place, governance and regulation, and healthcare expertise fused with the discourses on risk. In the first instance an investigation into the routes to online medicine purchasing is undertaken utilising the empirical research data, before the chapter turns to how regulation is navigated by distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate online medicine purchasing. Qualitative accounts involving challenges to healthcare expertise are also presented.
This article seeks to establish the connection—via shared discourse—between Incels and mainstream... more This article seeks to establish the connection—via shared discourse—between Incels and mainstream pornography. With an interdisciplinary approach which involves a Corpus Linguistics analysis of Reddit forum data, research into digital behaviors, and a feminist critique, this article focuses on the commonalities between the language of pornography and that of Incels. In doing so, it demonstrates how both pornography and Incels are different manifestations of the same misogyny. The findings of this study highlight the normalization of violence against women (VAW), which continues to be endemic in society, enabled and exacerbated by contemporary technologies.
With its wealth of readily and often publicly available information about Web users’ lives, the W... more With its wealth of readily and often publicly available information about Web users’ lives, the Web has created new opportunities for conducting online research. Although digital data are easily accessible, ethical guidelines are inconsistent about how researchers should use them. Some academics claim that traditional ethical principles are sufficient and applicable to online research. However, the Web poses new challenges that compel researchers to reconsider concerns of consent, privacy and anonymity. Based on doctoral research into the investigation of online medicine purchasing, this article presents a case study involving online forums, and reviews the existing ethical guidance surrounding the Web. The suggestion is that new ethical guidelines, particularly in relation to informed consent and participants’ own perceptions of what is public or private, are needed owing to the unique challenges of online research.
A study of live methods including experimentation, attentiveness, collaboration, multi-media plat... more A study of live methods including experimentation, attentiveness, collaboration, multi-media platforms, public sociology, the game of social life and research, idiotic methods, scavenging, mapping and topologies Global in scope and inter-woven by theoretical and methodological considerations; Chapters emerge from the Methods Lab at Goldsmiths University which is committed to developing inventive ways of 'doing sociology'; Studies the practice of sociological imagination and the aim is to make social research responsive to social life - to bring it alive
Incels (involuntary celibates), a subgroup of the so called ‘manosphere,’ have become an increasi... more Incels (involuntary celibates), a subgroup of the so called ‘manosphere,’ have become an increasing security concern for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners following their association with several violent attacks. Once mostly contained on niche men’s forums, redpilled and blackpilled communities and theories are gaining prominence on mainstream social media platforms. However, whilst previous research considerably enhanced our understanding of the incel phenomenon and their presence on Reddit and secluded incel forums, incel’s presence on mainstream social media platforms is understudied and their presence on TikTok is yet to be addressed. The present paper examines the incel subculture on TikTok, through an analysis of incel accounts, videos and their respective comments, to understand the role mainstream social media platforms play in the ‘normiefication’ and normalisation of incel ideology and discourse. The findings suggest that on TikTok the expression of incel ideolo...
This chapter considers the new opportunities for purchasing medicine provided by the Web. These o... more This chapter considers the new opportunities for purchasing medicine provided by the Web. These opportunities are incorporated within the challenges to the pharmaceutical market place, governance and regulation, and healthcare expertise fused with the discourses on risk. In the first instance an investigation into the routes to online medicine purchasing is undertaken utilising the empirical research data, before the chapter turns to how regulation is navigated by distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate online medicine purchasing. Qualitative accounts involving challenges to healthcare expertise are also presented.
This article seeks to establish the connection—via shared discourse—between Incels and mainstream... more This article seeks to establish the connection—via shared discourse—between Incels and mainstream pornography. With an interdisciplinary approach which involves a Corpus Linguistics analysis of Reddit forum data, research into digital behaviors, and a feminist critique, this article focuses on the commonalities between the language of pornography and that of Incels. In doing so, it demonstrates how both pornography and Incels are different manifestations of the same misogyny. The findings of this study highlight the normalization of violence against women (VAW), which continues to be endemic in society, enabled and exacerbated by contemporary technologies.
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