Social Media is for Idiots
Except it isn't always.
Sure, social media has its annoying (and occasionally idiotic) crowd. We all follow a person who complains non-stop about their lives to a group of people that, quite frankly, couldn’t care less. Or a person who has bestowed upon themselves the job of disagreeing with everything and everyone, taking pleasure in arguing with strangers, their grinning features illuminated by a bright screen in a dark and lonely room. Then there’s the person who doesn’t stop posting photos of themselves posing in increasingly mundane places, or the one who makes you hungry by capturing every meal they eat. These people might as well just be screaming into the digital void, but if that’s what works to help them cope with life, then who can blame them.
For many others, social media is a useful tool. It is an ever-changing monster that spews out glowing embers of facts, be them true or fictitious, and helps fan the flickering spark of ideas into a hungry wildfire.
I have recently been investigating the use of social media when it comes to wildlife conservation. In my not so humble opinion, conservation is a field which has only just picked up on the importance of online interactive media when educating people. A lot of the time our research involves paragraphs upon paragraphs of text, interspersed with statistical methods and the occasional mind-boggling graph. Much of this research is only available to like-minded scientists who earn enough money to pay for subscriptions to scientific journals, making it inaccessible to the public and, in my mind, somewhat useless.
Surely the point of knowledge is that it should be easily shared and spread?
Hence my ever-growing interest in conservation photography. Having only been acknowledged as its own genre in the past couple of decades, conservation photography is the discipline of taking images of wildlife to send a message to the public. It exists to inform the masses on environmental issues and to evoke emotions in favour of aiding and protecting our planet.
So what has social media got to do with it? Simple: social media is the dry wood kindling in my wildfire analogy, allowing flickering flames to spread far and wide.
We all enjoy pressing those little hearts and thumbs up buttons when we see something we like, but perhaps more importantly is the sharing of these photos. The more a conservation photo gets shared, the more people that see it. And the wider the audience, the higher the chance that the photo will find its way to someone who has the power to help. To make a difference.
I suppose my point is that, even though issues such as oil spills off the coast of Mexico or the melting of the polar ice caps can seem far away and difficult to aid from the comfort of your bedroom or the number 5 bus on your way home, even the simple act of sharing a photo on social media can help spread awareness.
Photos are, and always will be, incredibly powerful. They have assisted in environmental protection countless times throughout history. For example, photos of the iconic Yellowstone landscape taken by William H. Jackson helped convince U.S. Congress to establish the area as the first ever national park, protecting a myriad of species that can be seen thriving under protection today. And in 1968, a photo taken by a member of the Apollo 8 crew showing the blue-and-green orb of our planet emerging from the darkness of space reminded the public of the importance of keeping our planet healthy.
More recently, conservation photography expeditions carried out by the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) have helped stop the construction of an oil pipeline through the wilderness of Alberta, Canada, preventing environmental damage and protecting local wildlife and the livelihoods of indigenous people. Their projects all aim to spread environmental awareness and safeguarding our ecosystems for the future.
And that is why social media isn’t just for idiots, but also for people wanting to do some good. Those who have realised the importance of platforms such as Facebook and Twitter when it comes to wildlife conservation, who wish to share their hard work and artistic eye, capturing the essence of nature whilst reminding us that nothing is permanent. That everything needs care and attention in order to thrive.
So if helping conservation organisations whilst looking at beautiful pictures of our planet sounds like your cup of tea, check out the social media accounts below to help signal boost and strengthen the voice of environmental consciousness:
- ILCP
- Wildscreen Arkive
- WWF
- Wildlife Conservation Society
- Durrel Wildlife Conservation Trust
- National Geographic
- BBC Wildlife Magazine
With thanks to Laura Donnellan.
