Frequently Asked Questions
Is the tool open-source? What are the rules for using. modifying, and redistributing the tool?
Yes! This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. The choice of license was based on the software dependencies that the tool is based upon, and you can read the license at the link to better understand the rights for use.
Do you have examples of materials that I can use or modify when putting together an ethics application to submit to my IRB/REB?
Yes! You can check out the OSF project page to find them. Please note that the files here were used for a pre-release version of the tool, so some things may differ from the version available now.
Can you make this tool into an iOS/Android app or a Progressive Web Application?
We considered going this direction at the start of the development and decided against it because of the additional start-up costs, technical expertise & time investment required of the researchers setting up the studies, and costs associated with long-term support of the tool for little additional convenience and little-to-no functional advantages. iOS and Android platforms continually change from version-to-version which could have an app working one day and not the next, whereas web standards are universally shared and are more reliably backwards-compatible.
Can I run studies that facilitate live interactions between participants in the social media environment? Or is your tool for collecting actual, observational data from real social media websites?
No, our tool is not intended nor able to address these types of research designs.
Your tool doesn't suit my specific research needs. Are there any alternatives that might better fit my research question?
Yes! Below is a list of other social media simulation research tools and/or related interventions which I am aware of and might be a better fit to you.
After my 12 month trial of Amazon's Free Tier is up, how much does it cost to run the Mock Social Media Website Tool?
Exact pricing will vary based on your region and usage, so I cannot give a specific estimate. However, when I set up second EC2 and RDS instances for creating tutorials, I was charged roughly $35 CAD per month they were active.
Have a question that isn't answered here?
Feel free to shoot Arvin an e-mail at arvin.jagayat@ryerson.ca !