SOCIAL IMPACT RESEARCH

Media for Social Impact: The Prosocial Outcomes of Two Global Climate Awareness Initiatives Conducted via Social Media

This research investigated the prosocial impacts of two social media initiatives (case studies) that took place during the global climate summit, COP21: 1Heart1Tree and EarthToParis.

COP21 was the most important international environmental event of 2015. It brought together 196 nations to find solutions to tackle climate change. The goal of COP 21 was a new global climate treaty, involving all nations, that would enter force in the year 2020.

Although the initiatives vary greatly, 1Heart1Tree and EarthToParis were both designed to include online and offline activities primarily mediated through digital technology and primarily designed to encourage awareness, dialogue, and activism around climate issues.

To explore the outcomes of these campaigns, data was gathered from reported metrics, interviews, participation, and other forms of documentation and the case studies were analyzed using the evolutionary guidance media framework (Klisanin, 2010).

Research presented at the Association for Psychological Science, Link to Overview.