Is This Too Personal? An Autoethnographic Approach to Researching Intimate Archives Online.

This short research paper uses a personal research story to explore how autoethnographic methods can provide a guide to navigating the complicated ethics of researching online. Drawing on the author’s personal experience of bereavement and her subsequent research in online grief communities, the paper demonstrates how autoethnography can provide a lens for identifying points of tension, conflict and vulnerability in online research. The paper concludes by advocating for compassionate research [1] and shows how autoethnographic inquiry supports its development.