Using Ning for Doctoral Research-Help

Hi

I'm a doctoral student in Educational Leadership. My dissertation is the study of creativity, appreciative inquiry and encouraging adult lifelong learning.

I'm creating a ning for my participants to track and record moments of positive sensations--and keep these 'data files' on their member pages. They can choose the privacy level they would like and can sign off on the informed consent online. I'm currently figuring out how to write the informed consent.

My questions are...1) are there any institutions that have information about doctoral research and nings? esp. for working with an IRB committee regarding social media and research 2) are there independent scholars that continue to do research on a ning and what informed consent do they use as I would like to continue this research in the future beyond my doctoral studies.

thanks!!