Question: Are people willing to participate in research advertised on the internet, and is willingness to participate associated with type of study sponsor?
Findings: This mixed-methods survey and qualitative study of 914 respondents indicated that they were more likely to participate and share their social media data with researchers in university-led research studies than in studies conducted by the US federal government or pharmaceutical companies. However, only 49.3% indicated they would share their social media data at all.
Meaning: These findings indicate that researchers may face challenges in recruiting representative samples when recruiting from internet platforms.
