What has Sup Forums done to you?

I am a PhD candidate at La Trobe University studying how online discussions about moral, social and political issues might have an effect on peoples’ views, attitudes and beliefs. I am focusing exclusively on Sup Forums, its users, and the views that are expressed on its boards.

>Do you think spending time on Sup Forums altered your perspectives?

>If this prospect interests (or irritates) you, then you may find completing my anonymous questionnaire vaguely entertaining.

I have set up a website, www.OPhere.net, which has all the project details, a dedicated email address to contact me, and a link to the anonymous online questionnaire. I have been conducting one-on-one interviews as well, so if you would prefer to skip the prompts and just tell me your views, please do not hesitate to contact me.

This research has been granted approval by the La Trobe University Human Ethics Committee. Reference No: E16-027

>TL;DR: PhD student wants to hear your views on various social, political and moral issues.

Other urls found in this thread:

Sup
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

OP will be lurking for the duration.

Are you doing specifically/int/ or all boards?

I am trying to do as many boards as possible. Sup Forums is the fourth board on which I have started one of these threads.

You're going to have a major issues with getting a representative sample, you realise that, surely.

I have really been looking forward to getting Sup Forums's views - figured Sup Forums's perspectives will be dramatically different to those found on Sup Forums, for example.

Shieeeeeeeeeeeet
you're expecting honest answers in a mongolian horse breeding forum?

Yeah man, it's literally impossible to get a representative sample, because there is no sampling frame available. My research questions do not necessarily require a representative sample, but I do need to try and get something close to a cross-sectional sample.

>it's literally impossible to get a representative sample
Perhaps I'm not being clear - you're selection criteria is loose and contingent on self-reporting. People on Sup Forums are going to exploit that to give you false data, or will fall into a generally similar behavioural bracket.

Believe it or not, so far the trolling has been pretty minimal... even on Sup Forums's responses.

As I said to , I have not seen much trolling in the questionnaire responses, and interview participants have been pretty diverse too. Still, you are right, the methodology has its limitations.

And what's the potential for just subtle lying or embellishment?

Coming from a field where we can empirically measure a variable and deal with statistical likelihood, it feels lacking.

Having said this, it's still an improvement over studying just one board (usually Sup Forums) or generalizing entirely from posts.

This is qualitative research, the statistical dimension is mainly there for context. As for subtle lying/ embellishment? I am Doing my best to control for that by using a triangulation strategy (i.e., compare what is said in questionnaire responses to what others say in threads, during interviews etc.)

Australian universities offer """"""""""degrees""""""""" in shitposting.

MEMES ARE REAL
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Albeit this entire argument is assuming it's real.

Assuming what is real? The project?

>degree in shitposting
They permit you to try and complete a degree in shitposting, but if your work turns out to be of the same quality as a shitpost, you will not pass.

I have received a lot of methodological critiques, most of which have been pretty reasonable, but I honestly can't think of an alternative strategy for the project. I am open to suggestions!

Thank you to the user who completed the questionnaire!

How many responses have you had in total (all boards)?

Hmm, does anyone have any suggestions for how I might be able to get Sup Forums interested in this?

All up? About 200 so far. I hope you give the questionnaire a look user!

Post later in yuro peak hours or in American hours

Yeah, I think my timing was a bit off... still, the success of these threads in the past didn't seem to correspond to American or Euro peak hours...

Actually, fuck it, what is Sup Forums peak hours?

I might not be peak times, but two anons have now completed the questionnaire. Feeling optimistic!

...

Where are you going with this user?

>La Trobe

Can you please strangle that warped cunt Roz Ward for me?

Ah, I completely forgot about this. I am not going anywhere near that clusterfuck situation.

Still, what aspect of the 'Safe Schools' initiative has pissed you off user?

Actually just a thought do you have a comparison of some sort of base line "normal people"?

Alright cunt I'll do your questionnaire, got nothing better to do.

also I hope you have a wide margin for error in your method, you're gunna need it

I did actually give this idea some thought when I was designing the project, but I could not think of a suitably comparable population to use for a comparison. It's also not strictly necessary. The research is about how Sup Forums users interpret/deal with the content.

Cheers mate. I do have a considerable margin for error inbuilt into every aspect of the project.

doing it now

I'm assuming you're a long term poster here as well? You partake in the memes also?

Thanks user, much obliged. Longish time lurker primarily, but indeed yes, I do partake in the memes :)

what will you be a doctor in presuming you pass? Also, will it help you get a job? (hint, the answer is no lmao)

It would be a PhD in sociology. You can't get a job as a lecturer at a university without a PhD (except in some very exceptional circumstances), and the degree is similarly essential to be taken seriously as an academic. Will I get a job though? Who knows - hopeful though.

Always happy to help fellow students.

I will also send you an email later this week, I wouldn't mind participating in interview(s), especially if it can help you out some more.

Cheers user! I look forward to hearing from you, it would definitely be a huge help!

i have already done this, have you told Annou i send my best wishes?

Really? Which thread was that? Not sure who you are referring to...

Finished the questionnaire. Should I bother participating in an interview? Do you need a lot of interview subjects? How do you run them? Via email?

Cheers user! I need as many interview participants as possible, so if you are asking whether your participation is 'needed', then the answer is a definite yes! So far I have used IRC, email, Skype, Discord and a couple of chat websites for interviews. I am also keen to do some in-person interviews, but so far I have only received one request for that and it fell through. So I am pretty flexible about them - details are available on www.OPhere.net in the 'interviews' page.

some other board, ofcouse you dont since you get alot of replies
shes in a different field anyway

Oh hang on, I think I remember this. Annou is a student at La Trobe?

do I still get to keep my anonymity? I'm from geelong so I actually probably could do in person...

Yeah man - basically the trick is not to give me any identifying information. I would assign you a random number to use as your name, for example, and obviously I won't record where you you live in Aus etc. An in-person interview would be pretty awesome.

5 responses so far, much obliged anons!

well I'll bookmark your website and consider it. You're doing a phd so I'm sure you'll be taking your time.

Thanks man, you can always send me an anonymous email if you have any questions. Yeah, early 2018 is the earliest I would be finishing up lol.

Well, it looks like I might have to try this again at a different time lol.

Come back you cunt.

yes she is

Not really

Cunt has returned - what's up Russia?

Ah righeto, I must make a point of looking her up.

Really? Why do you think that is?

many ppl here come from pol

This board is just a sane version of Sup Forums mixed with culture and history discussion

That's precisely how I described Sup Forums to a past interview participant.
Does this mean that you think a lot of users share the same views/beliefs/opinions etc.?

What's the bump limit on Sup Forums?

>moral, social and political issues
there are no such things. Sup Forums is all about shitpost and empty alt right memes. on top of these this site is kinda obsolete. no anything other than it.

If that's the case, why do you continue to visit the site?

I was bored so I just did mine

Thanks user! What do you think of it?

There are too many of the "If you chose X please explain why" forms and theyre quite a pain for anyone who wants to fill it in randomly

probably, i dont have any numbers

This pissed me off when designing the questionnaire. I wanted to have the option to auto-skip those write-in questions if the respondent had answered 'no' to the previous question. Turns out that function is only found on the 'premium' versions of survey building software. Sorry about that, I spent a fair bit of time trying to find a way around it, but short of spending a bunch of money I don't have, I couldn't find a practical work-around.

I'm from Latrobe as well. Which campus are you on?

Bundoora - what are you studying?

Health Sciences. That's interesting. I'm on Bundorra as well. Wasn't aware there's anyone else shitposting on 4Chin at the campus.

Yeah, they are around :)

>:)
Please don't do that.
If you're free tomorrow from 1-2:30, I'm happy to meet up or something.

I've just sent you an email.

>:) My bad, a little scattered atm - trying to do too many things at once.

That sounds great to me user, the only question is whether I will be awake! If you shoot me an email to address on OPhere.net, I am sure we can arrange something.

Got it - will reply momentarily.

What the fuck is an ethnic identity.

Threw me off as well, I just answered the same as nationality.

sizeable overlap of users

I identify as a strong black woman

Is this shitposting having ascended to a higher plane? I really can't tell anymore
Did the questionnaire any way though, good luck

I identify as an Apache attack helicopter.

>OP here,

'Ethnic identity' refers to your ethnicity - a concept that is generally used in lieu of 'race' to mean one's cultural background. E.g., an American born in Hawaii might view themselves as having the ethnicity of 'Hawaiian' rather than 'American'.
I put ethnic identity in instead of 'race' to see how people would interpret it - nationality and race have, for the most part, been what people put in this field.
Well that's swell user - all the best.
Cheers user - I assure you it is not shitposting, this is really a component of my PhD research. You can always quote the ethics application number and contact La Trobe's ethics department to verify this if desired.
Whatever works for you user!

i have never heard of le trobe university before. this is fake

Seriously? Google is a thing man.

I sent you an email.

I am looking out for it. If you sent it earlier I might have already replied.

>5th uni of melbourne has PhD candidates who literally conduct research on a San Marinese cheese trading forum.
COULD NOT FABRICATE

Is this some weird euphemism for Sup Forums, or is this actually another candidates research project?

Don't worry, nobody is piggy backing your idea. Euphemism to show how pointless Sup Forums is.

Lol, cheers. So do you genuinely think that researching Sup Forums is a completely futile endeavor? I have been told this in other threads, but I am a little surprised to hear it.

It depends on your perspective. People like to downplay the influence of Sup Forums. But Sup Forums still has more unique visitors each month than people live in Australia.

Sup Forums.org/advertise

My thoughts exactly. Taken together with the various escapades of anons over the years, it seems likely that Sup Forums has some kind of impact on the lives of a lot of people.

>what's the worst thing you've seen on Sup Forums
>mfw feminists rustled my jimmies more than some guy dying by being fucked by a horse, people getting killed with a hammer or burned alive
Priorities, priorities.

You reckon that Sup Forums has altered your 'priorities' in this case?

>australia

Haha nice bait cunt

I got this on Sup Forums as well. What the fuck have Australians been doing to earn such a rep as shitposters?

I think people downplay it a lot too because it's pretty depressing to think about

Not sure. But a few years ago there seemed to be no active moderation on a lot of boards.
So a constant stream of bullshit does get desensitized.
But on the other hand, feminists do impact your life more than some strangers dying.

In the Netherlands we call that a "far from my bed"-show.
Starving Africans on the news is far from your bed, so it's not very interesting.
But when things get closer to home people get more interested and emotionally involved.

So when something happens people often say: well, that's a far from my bed show. As if it was just a random item to you on the morning news.

What exactly is so depressing to think about? That Sup Forums might be influential?