Social media as research tools?

Has anyone had direct experience using social media to conduct research, i.e. as a means of data collection? (rather than as an object of study)?

Permalink Reply by Vasileios Paliktzoglou on July 7, 2009 at 4:01pm: Interesting topic does it have any connection with the topic I have open http://www.aaceconnect.org/group/sociallearning/forum/topics/social...
I would be happy to hear your opinion.
Cheers; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Isabelle Eaton on July 8, 2009 at 11:52am: Don't think so. Or indirectly. Am thinking of social media (like blogs, Ning, etc.) as a means of collecting data on a particular issue or question, and not as a means of supporting the research efforts of others. For example, rather than (or in addition to) using surveys and/or interviews and/or focus groups in researching a given question (such as mothers' experiences as first-time parents), is there any evidence of social media being used for such research purposes.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Carolyn Starkey on July 8, 2009 at 11:10am: I am interested in this topic also, but I haven't done any research yet--just perused a couple of articles. If anyone would like to partner up on a project in this area, let me know.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Isabelle Eaton on July 8, 2009 at 11:46am: Carolyn,

Care to share the references for the articles?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gladys V. Hernandez on August 11, 2009 at 4:08pm: Hello Carolyn,

Although it seems to be late for this, I would like to work with you, do please let me know if still possible.

Kind regards,

Gladys; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dianne Allen on July 8, 2009 at 6:47pm: No experience, but have noticed a conversation at another Ning site

Good hunting; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Marco Campana on July 13, 2009 at 2:08pm: Might this be of use?

Digital Research Tools (DiRT)
http://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/

"This wiki collects information about tools and resources that can help scholars (particularly in the humanities and social sciences) conduct research more efficiently or creatively. Whether you need software to help you manage citations, author a multimedia work, or analyze texts, Digital Research Tools will help you find what you're looking for. We provide a directory of tools organized by research activity, as well as reviews of select tools in which we not only describe the tool's features, but also explore how it might be employed most effectively by researchers."

Many of the tools they list and describe are social media tools, including a page about data collection:
http://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/Collect+Data

"There are many available tools that allow you to input or collect data online, export the data in a variety of formats, and even publish it on the web."; ▶ Reply to This