The Apomediated World: Regulating Research When Social Media Has Changed Research

Social Media, like Facebook and Twitter, are having a profound effect on the way that human subjects research is being conducted. In this article Dan O’Connor argues that traditional research ethics and regulations may not easily translate to the use of social media in human subjects research. Using the conceptual model of apomediation, which describes the peer-to-peer way in which health information is shared via social media, he suggest that we may need to think again about the suitability of current regulations to deal with social media research.