Please help me research autism communication on tumblr!
If you replied with yes, please consider taking part in my research on the tumblr autism community!
Hi, my name is Karin and I'm a communications studies student from Austria! I'm currently working on my MA thesis and I want to explore how autism is communicated on this very platform, tumblr!
In order to do this, I really need input from you! I want to do interviews (in English or German, doesn't matter) with actually autistic people who use tumblr and get your opinion on different aspects of what it means to post/read/engage with autism content on here. Since I know that traditional (live and verbal) interviews aren't exactly the most accessible method, I want to offer four different interview options:
- Interview via Google Meet or Skype: This is the traditional live interview. If you feel most comfortable with this option, just message me via the tumblr chat or write me an email (autismcommresearch@gmail.com) so we can find a day and time that works best for both of us!
- tumblr chat interview: Another live interview, but you don't have to talk verbally, we can just chat in written form. This way it would be more of a back and forth, so follow-up questions from either of us would be possible. Again, just message me so we can set up a date.
- Google form: Another written type of interview! If you prefer to write out your answers in your own time, simply follow this link https://forms.gle/3oWLKmmdFUxB2avq9 and then submit your anwers when you're done. I'd just ask you to write as much as possible please – no need to keep it short, even though the interview looks like a survey!
- Voice messages: If you do prefer to talk, but you don't want to do it while I'm there, you can also send me voice messages! For this you can follow the above link to the Google form, record your answers to all the questions on your preferred device, and then upload the file(s) through the form itself. You'll need a Google account for this option.
All your information will be kept anonymous; your legal name or username won't be linked to your answers in any way. If I quote you, I will use a pseudonym (which you can choose yourself if you want). If you have any questions or concerns, just email me at autismcommresearch@gmail.com.
That was a lot of explanation, but what it comes down to is this: If you're autistic and use tumblr, I would be incredibly grateful if you could take the time to talk to me in whatever way is best for you! Autism research in the field of communication studies is very scarce but so important, especially the research done with as opposed to just about autistic people. I want to hear from you and make my field a little more inclusive and your help would really make a difference!
Please take part, share this post, and help me research autism communication on tumblr. Thank you!