Challenging ethical issues of online ethnography: reflections from researching in an online translator community

Abstract

This article explores challenging ethical issues involved in the conduct of ethnographic fieldwork in an online translator community. How online ethnography is different from its offline counterparts is increasingly being discussed. Many discussions have revolved around the research ethics potentially changed by such differences. It is not uncommon to see conflicting views and suggestions of ethical conduct in these discussions, and resolving these ethical conflicts during the design and conduct of a research project can take time and effort. This article focuses on our conduct of ethnographic observation, surveys, and interviews in an online LGBT+ subtitling group. It highlights four ethical issues involved in this online ethnographic fieldwork that required particular attention and effort: access to a site of enquiry, participants’ informed consent, data management, and relationship management. It provides a reflective account of our decision-making when dealing with these ethical issues. We conclude that these ethnographic issues are not necessarily new nor exclusive to fieldwork in an online translator community. However, resolving them requires more nuanced reading and creative application of existing ethical guidelines.