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@lapis@elekk.xyzQuestion I'm 1. too embarrassed to have a conversation with my professors about: (I may have asked this before, I know I've at least thought of asking).
Would you cite social network posts (eg: the fediverse, tumblr) to prove there's demand (eg: significance of research) for something in, say, a proposal?
2. my professors have been busy, and have been slow to get back to me on other things I've needed, so I don't want to inundate them.
@lapis If the thing you're studying involves social networks, then yes. If it doesn't, then maybe; you'll want to talk with your faculty to be sure.
@lapis Not individual posts (with a *possible* exception for academic Big Names). *Maybe* aggregate data - look how much conversation there is about this hashtag! i.e. here we have a real and widespread social phenomenon - but that in itself doesn't demonstrate demand for a particular research question to be answered within the scholarly literature.
(I am not a social scientist; disciplinary mileage may vary.)
@lapis Unfortunately, that's something that's best shown by well-known people looking for it, or by large numbers of people looking for it.
I'd say it greatly depends on who's saying it. If someone famous in your field opines on social media that they really want some research, then sure. Or if you can point to a thread with ~100+ people agreeing that something would be good, then perhaps that too.
(But a handful of people just saying it would be nice doesn't quite count, unfortunately.)