[Air-L] Fw: Problems for pseudonym in online identity study

[Rhiannon Bury]

Trying this again...


Hi Emily

 When working with female fans in the past, I found myself in a similar situation. I had pseudonyms for the list discussion data but was also looking at fan fiction they had written, which was circulated on archives and boards in the broader fan community (this was the pre-blog/LJ  days).  Those familiar with the stories could potentially identify them. The best strategy is to discuss the situation with the participants themselves. Some will not care if they are identified and may wish their public discourse identified with the name they associate with it. Others may be deeply "closeted" (I use this term deliberately in the case of slash fiction writers). In that is the case you should work out a solution on an individual basis. In one case I used the person's real name for the textual analysis of her publicly available writing but a different name for her list interaction as there was no research rationale to link the two.  You will likely have to
 revisit your letter of information.consent and reissue it so that the participants  are aware of any potential breach of confidentiality. 


best

Rhiannon

Rhiannon Bury
Associate Professor
Women's and Gender Studies
Athabasca University
rbury at athabascau.ca
twitter: @television2pt0