Herring, Susan C. Linguistic and Critical Analysis of Computer Mediated Communication:  Some Ethical and Scholarly Considerations.  The Information Society 12 (2): 153-168, 1996

• This article takes up the issue of anonymity and citation in the early age of email and other computer mediated communication (CMC).
• The first proposal for how to deal with internet communication is to take Cavazos’ approach that all “messages posted via computer networks are published works and hence protected by copyright law” (154).
• The second proposal is by Storm King and states that email communications in digital forums are possibly private depending on how they are intended and perceived by participants in these forums.
• The takeaway from Herring’s study: “I argue for the legitimacy of both linguistic research and critical research in CM contexts, and focus attention on ethical issues raised by each.  I do this by considering the type of research separately, with theoretical background drawn from various disciplinary practices in the social sciences, especially the field of linguistics.  I revisit the practical question of ethical guidelines, and suggest that in the face of the daunting task of formulating a single set of guidelines that would not unfairly discriminate against some legitimate forms of research, existing guidelines within each discipline should be followed with the addition of a CMC-specific guideline specifying that restricted-access electronic forums have different rights and obligations than do those that permit public access” (155).
• Positivism is concerned with RAD type stuff – produce testable claims and value free observations in a scientific manner.
• Critical CMC research involves the researched and asks for their consent to publish material before going forward.  Here we see the overlap between early discussions of CMC research and ethically feminist paradigms of research. (160-1).
• Herring uses “social realist paradigms” for her research ethics.  She notes, “Social realism holds that different social groups, as defined, for example, by gender, race or class, are characterized by an unequal distribution of power, such that some groups dominate and other groups are dominated by them (161).
• By observing that harm should not come to researched subjects, the author recourses to disciplinary ethics of working with human subjects when considering what to do about the public/private binary in CMC scholarship.  If it’s private, consent is needed.