How Is Social Media Creating Environmental Awareness?
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Posted By: Nouman Ali on July 20, 2020 Social media has proved to be a powerful medium to voice your opinion and gain knowledge. Social media platforms have helped removed distances and provided masses a platform to connect for a common cause. Various social movements on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have gained popularity and helped in making a difference. The environment conservationists are actively using social space to raise awareness of environmental hazards. Movements such as "go green" and "reduce plastic waste" have gained popularity through social media. Environmentalists use blog posts, YouTube videos, Facebook advertisement, and webinars, etc. to spread information about environmental problems and their solutions. Importance of Social Media in the 20th CenturyThe world feels connected and well aware of what's happening around the globe through social media. There are billions of people present on social media platforms; hence the platforms have grown exponentially ever since they were launched. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have also become a source of knowledge for a lot of people, just like the newspaper. • More than 4.5 billion people are using the internet in 2020 • Active social media numbers have surpassed a 3.8 billion mark. • More than half of the world's population uses social media • Average time of social media consumption is 2 hours and 24 minutes per day Brands have also started collaborating with environment conservation movements to enhance their brand perception. Incorporating environmental aspects in brand values increases customer loyalty and the number of sales. In the current state of affairs, brands are mindful of the values they possess and the movements they support, which in return, provide them client loyalty. Research shows that consumers are more conscious about their buying decisions because of social media. People make a conscious decision to purchase products and services that do not harm the environment. Carpet cleaning Westminster, a professional cleaning service in the UK, states that recently more and more consumers ask them if they use environmentally safe products and business practices before booking their order. Clothing, automobile, fuel, and cosmetic industries, along with every other industry, are facing the same changing consumer trend. Social media has increased awareness and has turned people into conscious consumers. Inspirational Social Media Campaigns for Environment ProtectionThe active campaigns on social media have a plan to inform people of the potential damage they can cause to the planet earth. Let's have a look at some of the best environmental movements conducted on social media: 1. J.J Watt's fundraiser for Hurricane HarveyIn August 2017, America's state Texas and Louisiana suffered from a stage 4 Hurricane, Hurricane Harvey. The hurricane damaged the area a lot and is considered one of the costliest hurricanes on record. The damage that occurred by the hurricane is estimated to be around $125 billion. Charity organizations and volunteers around the world gathered together to raise funds for the affected, one of the fundraising campaigns was introduced by the famous football player J.J Watt. J.J. Watt launched a campaign named Houston Flood Relief Fund for the hurricane affectees and promoted the fund on various social media platforms. He urged people to donate whatever amount they can. The initial goal was to collect $200,000; however, Watt was able to raise $37,068,102, much more than the initial target. Social media has proven to be a powerful tool to raise awareness and start movements for environmental conservation. 2. Black Friday Donation by PatagoniaPatagonia is a clothing brand that has been actively supporting environment protection movements. In 2016, Patagonia announced that it would donate 100% of its Black Friday sales to organizations that are working for environmental protection. They called it "fundraiser for the Earth," and all the sales were meant to be spent on the conservation natural resources for future generations. The announcement caught huge attention on social media, and the tweet got nearly and 1000% more engagement than any of their other posts. The initial expected sales target by Patagonia was $2 million; however, they were able to sell products of more than $10 million. Social media played a vital role in letting out the word for this movement. 3. Adopt the Planet by NASAEarth Day celebrated on the 22nd April provides a perfect opportunity for organizations to launch environment campaigns. NASA launched the campaign of "Adopt the Planet" in 2017 on Earth day. Adopt the Planet campaign emphasized and encouraged people in "adopting" a piece of land and gain knowledge about it. The campaign divided the planet Earth into 64,000 pieces, and people were randomly assigned a piece to know about it and share it on social media. The campaign gained massive popularity amongst people and was a source of knowledge about the planet earth. The campaign helped raise awareness on several aspects, including air pollution, volcanoes, levels of sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic, etc. This is how NASA engaged active users of social media to help raise awareness and engage in their activity. Campaigns like this are interesting and also help people gain knowledge about how they can help to protect the environment. 4. WWF's Campaign for Endangered Animals: #EndangeredemojiWWF is one of the most active NGOs working actively towards wildlife conservation and working towards the betterment of earth's betterment, including the conservation and protection of oceans, rivers, and forests. WWF launched an engaging campaign for social media users named #EndangeredEmoji. People use emojis generally while texting or tweeting; hence the campaign revolved around the endangered animals and the emojis that you frequently use. The frequently used emojis were turned into a good cause, where each time a person tweeted using the specific emojis, a small amount of money was donated on your behalf. The campaign got famous around the globe, and after 2 months of the campaign, WWF received 59,618 sign-ups. People frequently used social media and emojis in their everyday texting, and this campaign was a huge win for the organization in letting their word out while engaging masses to donate for the environment and endangered animals. 5. Last Selfie by WWFAnother campaign launched by WWF that got people's attention on social media was #TheLastSelfie. In the age of social media where everything is about photos and visuals, WWF started the campaign to raise awareness of the endangered animals through them. The last selfie campaign included photos of endangered animals, including gorilla, a tiger, and a polar bear on Snapchat. The visuals have each animal looking directly into the camera, including a hashtag: #LastSelfie. This campaign raised awareness in people about endangered animals and how they can help. An amazing initiative by WWF was to use social media as a space to attract masses in raising environmental awareness. Social Media and Social AwarenessSocial media provides a huge opportunity for activists to let their word out and influence people in taking steps to help protect the environment. A consumer of today is well aware of the things they consume as compared to the past times, which is why brands are now focusing on eco-friendly products and to minimize the plastic waste. • Eco-friendly brands recognize the environmental threats and come up with unique solutions • Provide eco-friendly solutions to daily basis usage items • Promote awareness on a sustainable lifestyle Several campaigns launched by brands online through social media to encourage people to use recyclable products have created a massive change in people. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are considered as a major source of information, and hence brands and organizations are using this space actively to raise awareness. Several brands have gained popularity because of their brand values, including environmental protection. A few of the brands that are actively working in conservation of environment are Patagonia, YesStraws, eBay, IKEA, Lush Cosmetics, Apple, Beyond meat, Native Shoes, and Clipper tea. If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Nouman Ali
From Islamabad, Member Since February 2020 |
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