Hey everyone,
Thanks again so much for your interest in the "Welcome to Slumberland" Twitter Project. Last week, I posted an update that included a thank you and an announcement regarding the potential delay of the project. Today, I wanted to give you all some further details surrounding the now confirmed delay to commencement.
Like Nemo on the back of Somnus, I was quickly swept away by my excitement about the insights that this project will hold for all of us. Initially, I envisioned it to be a pretty straight forward exercise that would combine my fun, collaborative and conversational intentions with a firm academic foundation, and thought that pursuing this project on Twitter (a public, digital space with no expectation of privacy) would allow for a marriage of convenience without the requirement of ethics approval.
Oh, how naive this young qualitative researcher was...
In a very short period of time, I've learned that the waters of social media ethics are not calm and clear as I'd originally envisioned, but rather rough and turbulent. Since the project involves direct intervention and interaction from the Principal Investigator (me), the requirements for ethics clearance are quite involved and must be completed prior to the beginning of data collection. Further navigating concerns like recruitment, participation, and consent must also be carefully considered.
All of these factors are incredibly important and I need to take the time now to ensure that they are adequately thought out and acceptable to the ethics committee reviewing my application; I'm sincerely grateful that I came to these realizations now. Establishing all of the research protocol prior to the commencement of the project will ensure it's legitimacy and secure a future for the surely incredible insights that we will all bring to the project. Unfortunately though, it also pushes back the timeline of the project while the review is underway.
It is for this reason that the originally suggested commencement date of May 15, 2020, will have to be postponed.
While we wait for word about the project's ethics clearance, I will continue to post the occasional thread about the work of life of Winsor McCay and will provide updates as new information becomes available.
I am eager and excited to get this project started with you all. I want to thank you for your continued support and look forward to hearing your thoughts on Little Nemo in the very near future.
Best,
Zachary J.A. Rondinelli