Online Chat Discussions Challenging and Enabling Data Collection from Youth: Methodological Considerations

This article offers a detailed and methodologically informed account of collecting research data through chatting with young people on the Discord platform. Discord, a popular communication platform among youth, was used in this study to gather data via online chats. The article explores the methodological considerations of using a chat-based platform to collect data from young people about their experiences with family work, a home-based social service for families. The study adopts a co-research approach, involving two young adults with personal experience in child welfare services. The article provides insights into the unique features of online chat-based data collection and its implications for research involving children and youth. It highlights both the opportunities and challenges of data collection through online chatting, focusing on the researchers’ decisions made at the beginning, during, at the end of and after the chat discussions on Discord.