Hey everyone!
Sorry I wasn't at the PC when the thread was, very kindly, posted by Raps, but I'm here now to give you some more details on exactly what I'll be up to!
Basically, I'm about to start my fourth year at the University of Edinburgh and as a Sociology major I have to do my own piece of original research. I've chosen to look at internet identity, and for the data gathering portion of my project I have been approaching a few different fora where I will be a) looking at posts to see how people's posting styles differ between different communities, and b) interview members of the communities I'm observing to get their views on how they act online through different venues (IRC, Facebook, E-mails, on a forum itself, etc.).
If anyone would like to be interviewed for this please contact me (through this thread, PMs, e-mails, visitor message, elaborate smoke signals, and so forth).
If you feel uncomfortable with me observing your posts you can get in touch with me and I will avoid using anything you post in my project.
When I've finished my final draft I will forward the sections that relate to this forum to Raps and the modding team to ensure I'm not misrepresenting y'all in any way, and anyone I directly interview will get to see anything that involves them in my project. The summary of my paper will also be available should people be interested in seeing it.
Finally, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me and I'll answer them to the best of my ability. Also, thanks a lot to Raps and the modding team for giving me permission to do this, I know how important it is that your online and offline identities are kept secure on this site!