Social Media and Communities of Practice in Energy Saving Behaviour
Research Category:
Social Planning and Community Development
Scarp Collaborators:
We have put together a dynamic research team to investigate the role of digital and social media in advancing mobilization for climate change mitigation. Our team includes a grassroots organization with a proven track record in mobilizing university students, goBEYOND; a digital film making planning firm with extensive local and international experience in participatory video production, Ear to the Ground Planning; an energy visualization web dashboard design firm, Lucid Design Group; and a social media sustainability support company that invented the facebook app My Everyday Earth, Sense Tecnic. Our team shares a common vision of producing and testing creative applications of new technologies to accelerate popular engagement of climate change mitigation efforts across diverse populations.
Amongst the plethora of mobilization strategies being employed throughout the province of B.C to mitigate and adapt to climate change, digital media is a potent tool with unrealized potential. Over the past decade a massive surge in the uptake of computer mediated communication has revolutionized social and professional networking and, consequently, human behaviour. Despite the unprecedented popularity of digital media there is very little published research on its effectiveness as a social mobilization tool. This proposed research investigates how digital media can be effectively used to mobilize young people toward climate friendly behavioral change. Within the scope of digital media our interest lies with user generated content and its ability to shift social norms and accelerate change. Building from current research done at both MIT and USC, as well as past PICS funded work with 350.org and Campus Climate Challenge, this research addresses 3 major sets of questions:
1. How can digital media engage new participants who otherwise would not participated in an existing climate action campaign? How does digital media intensify the participation of individuals who are already engaged in existing campaigns?
2. How does engaging individuals in digital media impact their values and behavior in relation to climate change?
3. Can online digital media platforms help networks of interest become communities of practice?
Research External Link:
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