Hi, I’m Kira WELCOME to my blog and thank you for exploring my little slice of the internet! 

I have to say I am very much looking forward to BCM312 this semester. Steve Irwin once said, “I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message”. Directly correlating to how I feel about this project, I have chosen a topic that interests me and which; I hope to build my knowledge. My research project; will be constructed around Week 7’s topic ‘Planting Trees and Greening Hollywood’. I am currently studying a double degree, majoring in Global Sustainable Development. So, it is not surprising that I have chosen a topic that explores all things pollution, e-waste and climate change. 

In the last decade, there has been increasing global acknowledgement that climate change poses a harmful threat to ecological stability and life as we know it. Caused by human activity, climate change is a social concern that calls for co-operation across countries for a global response (Fownes, Yu & Margolin, 2018). Several consequences of climate change arise unexpectedly, fuelling public debate in a manner that labels climate change as ‘distinct’ (Fownes, Yu & Margolin, p3, 2018). With a predominant focus on the scientific data employed to validate international action, climate change is widely debated online (Pearce et al, 2014). 

We live in a world consumed by social media, and for many of us, we spend a lot of time scrolling, liking and commenting on various types of content. Social media is a transformative digital technology, placing the world at users’ fingertips, notifying them of news and events instantaneously. It is hard to go online these days and not see countless posts of news and current affairs. Pearce et al (2018) articulate how social media platforms have ‘disrupted established hierarchies of communication’ shifting; the control of conventional leaders such as political organisations (p1). Anderson (2017) stipulates the correlation of social media engagement and its link to climate change views, behaviour and knowledge propose numerous positive qualities. Advancing one’s familiarity with climate change is a leading benefit of social media use. From this, we understand the powerful nature of social media platforms and their influence to change views and opinions internationally.

In contrast, social media can provide an arena for framing climate change cynically and motivating individuals with these outlooks to post remarks online (Anderson, 2017). Twitter, in particular, has assisted in breaking down communication barriers, offering opportunities for open global discussions. Moreover, it has revolutionised the communication of leading global issues, such as climate change (Pearce et al, 2018). 

Conducting secondary research and exploring potential options has led me to a rough research question that I believe has the potential to produce a robust and fascinating project! My question will likely change in the weeks to come; however, for the moment, I will be exploring: How is Twitter a powerful platform for raising awareness of climate change issues?

I have only recently become an active Twitter user. Before I became a communications and media student, I was oblivious to the world of tweeting and the power of the ‘hashtag’. Research exhibits how Twitter acts as an agent for examining public discussions concerning climate change. It is a world-wide problem that heightens scientific and political arguments across borders (Fownes, Yu & Margolin, 2018). One piece of research I found particularly interesting was a 2020 article by Sejung Park. He explored the roles celebrities play on Twitter, advocating for climate change and sparking thought-provoking debate. The role celebrities play online was uncovered through a mixed theoretical approach (Park, 2020).

Why is this topic worth any significance and, to whom does it matter? 

Climate change is an ever-increasing problem which globally, we should all be aware of and understand how we can minimise the effects. User engagement with online communication platforms has grown at a rapid rate. In 2019 there were 317 million active Twitter users and, of this statistic, 4.6 million were from Australia. Additionally, between 2005 and 2013, the number of individuals engaged with social networking forums in the United States rose from 8% to 72% (Brenner & Smith, 2013). Twitter is a user-friendly platform that permits freedom of speech and international discussion with tweets generally consisting of 30-150 characters. Twitter is an online arena for public debate and, the inclusion of hashtags makes it easier for users with similar interests to discover one another, for instance, #climatechange or #climateaction (Romero, Meeder & Kleinberg, 2011). Opposed to Facebook, I have selected Twitter as my focus as it is a speedy platform for spreading information. Furthermore, its retweet system and straight to the point format allows viewers to consume information quickly and directly. 

I believe it would be interesting to focus my research more specifically by exploring climate change events such as the Australian bushfires of 2020 and the recent Amazon Rainforest fires. I look forward to the weeks to come as I develop my research project, diving deeper into the world of Twitter!

References: 

Anderson, A., (2017). Effects of Social Media Use on Climate Change Opinion, Knowledge, and Behavior. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science, [Accessed 22 March 2021].

Brenner, J., & Smith, A. (2013). 72% of online adults are social networking site users. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project. [Accessed 22 March 2021]. 

Fownes, J., Yu, C. and Margolin, D., (2018). Twitter and climate change. Sociology Compass, 12(6). [Accessed 22 March 2021].

Park, S., (2020). How Celebrities’ Green Messages on Twitter Influence Public Attitudes and Behavioural Intentions to Mitigate Climate Change. Sustainability, 12(19), p.7948. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12197948. [Accessed 23 March 2021]. 

Pearce, W., Holmberg, K., Hellsten, I. and Nerlich, B., (2014). Climate Change on Twitter: Topics, Communities and Conversations about the 2013 IPCC Working Group 1 Report. PLoS ONE, 9(4). [Accessed 21 March 2021].

Pearce, W., Niederer, S., Özkula, S. and Sánchez Querubín, N., (2018). The social media life of climate change: Platforms, publics, and future imaginaries. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 10(2), pp.1-2. [Accessed 21 March 2021]. 

Romero, Daniel M., Brendan Meeder, and Jon Kleinberg. (2011). “Differences in the Mechanics of Information Diffusion across Topics: Idioms, Political Hashtags, and Complex Contagion on Twitter.” Pp. 695–704 in Proceedings of the 20th international conference on World wide web. ACM. [Accessed 21 March 2021].