Social media: the relevance for research.

Social media is changing the way health professionals and care organisations engage with patients and the public. Given the increased role of online systems and social media platforms in healthcare delivery, and the vast volume of information generated, it is unsurprising that opportunities to use online data for health surveillance/monitoring and for research are being realised.1 While these readily available data have obvious attractions for researchers, they also pose challenges to traditional research methods and requires different ethical considerations. This article will briefly outline the key issues when undertaking social media research and the ethical challenges in terms of the risks and benefits to participants and researchers.