ABSTRACT
Netnography can usefully be applied to the context of policy advocacy and regulatory change. In this chapter, we overview a netnography project we undertook with the Washington, DC-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a non-profit advocacy group. We conducted a multi-language, multi-platform netnographic investigation in 10 countries with 11 researchers to reveal the use of social media content creators and strategies in tobacco promotion. The project required an emphasis on international teamwork, precise documentation, and special attention to the needs for recruitment and interview participant anonymity. As a result, netnography became the research focal point around which a major public policy petition was based, and it resulted in a recent anti-tobacco advertising policy change by Facebook and Instagram. After the project, the netnographers remained committed to the project, speaking with journalists and continuing to work for social media policy change. The chapter illustrates how netnography can be mobilized to reveal shady corporate ethics in national and international social media use. It also reveals how netnography can be mobilized to mobilize public opinion as well as to present scientific cases for policy changes by social media companies and regulatory changes governing their operations.
