I'm not sure if you're refering to the validity of the information the person gives you, or the validity of the identity of the person, or both. Self-report data can always be questioned. If you are asking the person about objective events, then you could validate that person's report against other people's reports (the way journalists do...i.e., consensual validation). If people describe their own feelings or attitudes, then it's their own feeling or attitudes and does not necessarily require external validation. As for their identities, there may not be any way that you can definitely validate who people are. E-mail addresses are distinct, but more than one person may be using one address. You could contact people by phone as a way to validate their identity. Some online communities have profiles of their members, which will help in identifying who people are... But when you're online, there's no iron clad way of verifying identity.
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