There is no doubt that social media has become a huge part of the daily lives of people. 59 percent of Americans use it, and people all over the world use social media in different manners. The question is, can it be an effective tool to spread awareness on the environment?
Some may only have the purpose of connecting with friends and relatives, while others may see it as an opportunity to fully express their selves.
In the past year, social media has been the place where people share their views on popular topics. Facebook offers groups and pages so that different people with similar perspective and favorites may mingle and share ideas with one another. Twitter and Instagram on the other hand has been utilizing Hashtags to connect people with similar cause and views. To build awareness or to promote a product on Facebook, people sometimes buy Facebook likes to gain more popularity quickly.
The Green Economy Post has given emphasize in the role of Hashtags in making the world a better place. According to their report, Hashtags are good at "helping users build a reputation on a specific topic, create or join conversations with others in green areas of specialty, promote a new product, build awareness about a cause, get the word out about an event, and alert people about a new blog posts or current events."
At present, environmental issues has also began surfacing in social media. Different non-governmental and volunteer groups use the wide connections of social media to publicize and spread their goals. Many governmental laws and resolutions have been criticized in social media, forcing authorities to reconsider their actions. According to a report by Huffington Post, social media has been widely accepted by the environmental sector. They use social media to connect people locally and cross-nationally on major environmental issues such as climate change. However, not everyone in social media share the same cause. The perfect example of this is the current division between those who believe that climate change is real and those who deny climate change.
Social media has become the battleground of the two contradicting sides, lashing and mocking each other's credibility and findings. Some people may also use social media to propagate incorrect and misleading information regarding specific topics.
Overall, social media has been very helpful in spreading environmental causes and projects. However, users should always try validating various social media posts, especially reports that may potentially affect their way of life.