The unconventional fame of Greta Thunberg
With three Nobel Peace Prize nominations and the title of Time Person of the Year of 2019, this headstrong 19-year-old climate activist from Sweden is no ordinary girl and no ordinary social media figure, either.
It might be tempting to reduce Greta’s online presence to a few viral moments where she bravely mocked politicians who insulted her or her values. However, this view would be mistaken. Nowadays, a considerable part of any public figure’s success rests in their use of social media. Greta has more than 14.2 million followers on Instagram and 5 million on Twitter, which shows that she is no amateur. Let’s take a look at how she engages with her audience online.
Fridays For Future
In contrast to a usual influencer’s profile on Instagram, Greta’s account looks impersonal. For example, she seldom shares stories — short videos or images that disappear after 24 hours — which are a great way to build a relationship with the audience. There is a myriad of creative ways to use stories to engage with followers — for instance, performing informal polls. No wonder Instagram users with over 100 thousand followers, on average, post about 50 stories a month! Stories aside, there is not much else to see in her account apart from the weekly photos with her on Fridays holding the sign “School Strike for Climate” and the reports from conferences or strikes she happened to participate at (Davos or COP26 to name a few). However, her firm focus on climate activism shows purposeful use of the account, and this consistency makes people less likely to unfollow her. If they choose to do so in the first place, since the content might be a tad too serious to be enjoyed by a generation that frequently uses Instagram as a sort of escape from reality by mindless scrolling.
Chill Greta, chill!
Twitter is where Greta’s personality shines through. Like her famous speeches, her tweets tend to contain hints of her sarcastic sense of humour and inspiring urges to act, which help lighten the mood and spark interest in the often grave content of her feed. Like for other prolific Twitter users, most of her posts are reshared content — commentary on news articles, retweets of scientists showcasing their latest findings to help spread relevant information, as well as posts by fellow climate activists to show support. However, this kind of activity is consistent with how most people use Twitter. Research has shown that 69% of Twitter users in the USA get the news or news headlines here, and about 50% say the site broadened their knowledge of current events. Thus, although Twitter has a 3,4 times smaller userbase than Instagram and might not allow her to reach as big an audience, it is a social media platform that lets Greta encourage climate activism without becoming irrelevant or dull.
Greta belongs to a group of public figures such as vegan activist Ed Winters or female education advocate Malala who mainly use their social media accounts to promote their values and showcase their work. The secret ingredient to her fame? It might as well be her sarcastic humour that helps establish a connection with other people frustrated with the empty promises of politicians and corporations.
