[Air-L] Suggestions on ethics of using online data for academic research

[Pawan Singh]

Hi,
I am Pawan Singh, a PhD. student in Communication at UC, San Diego. I am
currently working on a paper that looks at questions of identity
construction and performance online by gay men in the Indian context. I am
basically looking at some of the user profiles on a popular dating/hook-up
site used by gay men to understand how they self-construct identity and form
relationships in this space. I understand that the data on these profiles is
private even though it's in a public space.

When I chose some profiles using purposive sampling, I contacted the users
for their consent. Very few responded while others dismissed the research as
hoax. I am investigating how I can go ahead and produce an virtual
ethnographic analysis based on this profiles in an ethical fashion. I could
change the names of the user profiles but does that suffice?

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. It'll be a great help.

Thanks,
Pawan Singh