Daniela M. Markazi
Rachel M. Magee
ABSTRACT
Teens, who are online almost constantly, engage with climate change posts on social media. We present the findings of a qualitative content analysis of the most popular climate change posts (tagged with #ClimateChange) on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Over four weeks in Spring 2022, we collected the top five weekly posts (n = 60) to understand how they address animals and emotions and relate to teens’ perceptions of climate change online based on prior survey work with 100 American teens. Our research reveals that more than a quarter (26.7%) of all analyzed posts relate to animals, and many (87.5%) employ negative language when discussing animals. We offer recommendations to enhance online climate change communication for teens, foster pro-environmental behaviors, attitudes, and activism, and study social media discourse across platforms. We highlight the need for further research on youth, climate change, and social media.
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Index Terms
- Animal Narratives and Emotional Resonance in #ClimateChange Discourse on Social Media: A Qualitative Content Analysis
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