Climate Action 98 – Get Social on Social Media

Education and Climate Information

The Frog will explore The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual Guide to 100 Climate Solutions by Heidi Roop in the first 100 days of 2024

Summarizing, let alone addressing, the complexities of social media’s impact on the conduct of climate action by individuals is way beyond the scope of The Frog Blog. We all must decide our relationship to social media and act accordingly.

Knowing that much of the only discourse on climate change is taking place on social media platforms sometimes makes me question my general disinterest in the usual media sources. I only have so much time to devote to my interests and I choose not to feed the internet trolls. I probably should do more, but there are only so many hours in the day and I find social media to be a catastrophic time sink that I cannot afford.

The tradeoff to sitting out the social media disinformation wars is that, without any kind of controls, regulations, or voices in opposition, the dominant narrative is created by a mass of individuals seeking the dopamine release from playing a call and response game dictated by the two big biases that make the platforms function.

Our powerful cognitive biases are all of the mental shortcuts we use in the face of a bewildering mountain of information which result in us believing and sharing information that seems, at first glance, to fit our mental model (or simply sounds true) without confirmation. And social bias reinforces the “truth” shared through sources that we know or have chosen to trust.

Without guardrails and regulations, and with the concentration of the dominant media companies in the hands of a few individuals and corporations, the real danger is the built in, profit maximizing algorithmic bias that sophisticated disinformation practitioners use to amplify the message they require to move their agenda forward.

ExxonMobil is the best at this. Research involving analyzing climate disinformation tweets on Twitter (or X or whatever) revealed that ExxonMobil funded over 60 Twitter/X accounts that actively pushed lies about climate change. Their cynical, deliberate campaign had two main messages: climate change is not threatening and Biden’s energy plans hurt economic growth.

Don’t believe it. Don’t share it. And if see something, say something.

If you choose to fight back, you have my support. Clear your mind and remember how to craft a sticky truth sandwich with firmly stated facts enclosing a debunked myth. Remember, the key is to diminish the myth and amplify the facts.

Lead with the fact and make it simple, plausible, and sticky. Warn them that what you are about to say is a myth. Debunk the myth with the fewest words possible. Finally, reinforce the fact that provides an “alternative causal explanation” for the myth.

And as you stroll through Twitter/X, TikTok, and Instagram, geared up ready to make sticky truth sandwiches, keep Heidi’s ready list of reliable resources handy:

@nasaclimatechange
@unclimatechange
@science_moms
@futureearth
@allwecansave
@katharinehayhoe
@ayanaeliza
@icy-pete
@noaaclimate
@sunrisemvmt
@ipcc_ch
@natures

And of course, @heidiroop

And, @rescuethatfrog

Next Up: Climate Action 99: Embrace Your Inner Bookworm

Howard Creel

#rescuethatfrog
Email: rescuethatfrog@gmail.com