Instead of trying to figure out on an academic listserve what is private and what is public on a blog, what if we let the people who are writing these words decide?
I agree with the presumption of your rant, Terri. Actually I don't think it's rant, it's a perfectly sensible ethical presumption. However, as an operating principle "ask the writer" might not work or might not need to be applied in certain circumstances. I'm thinking, for instance ... 1. The writer is dead, or for whatever reason inaccessible, practically speaking. (This applies moreso to archival material, but increasingly, too, to older Internet material.) 2. The writing is published in a clearly public publication forum, something like Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. You would agree, I assume, that for such venues, permission would not not required. The question on the table -- a good one, I think -- is, Does that apply to blogs? Well, I think there is not a universal answer for all blogs ... the principle does apply to some blogs but not others. For personal, health-related blogs, I would say that the presumption of privacy should be stronger. 3. The researcher wishes to quote for purposes of critique or unflattering analysis -- and the writer might not wish to provide consent. We have to be careful not to set up research protocols that impede or prevent legitimate criticism. 4. The researcher is doing aggregate analysis, not quoting excerpts, not identifying people by name, not using any personally identifiable or trackable information. Best, Jim Porter ------------------------------------ James E. Porter, Professor Department of English and Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies Director of Composition Department of English Bachelor Hall 356A Miami University Oxford, OH 45056 email: porterje@muohio.edu twitter: http://twitter.com/reachjim web: http://www.units.muohio.edu/english/People/Faculty/I_P/PorterJames.html ------------------------------------