Social media data for environmental sustainability: A critical review of opportunities, threats, and ethical use

Andrea Ghermandi; Johannes Langemeyer; Derek Van Berkel; Fulvia Calcagni; Yaella Depietri; Lukas Egarter Vigl; Nathan Fox; Ilan Havinga; Hieronymus Jäger; Nina Kaiser; Oleksandr Karasov; Timon McPhearson; Simone Podschun; Ana Ruiz-Frau; Michael Sinclair; Markus Venohr; Spencer A. Wood

doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2023.02.008

Social media data for environmental sustainability: A critical review of opportunities, threats, and ethical use

Andrea Ghermandi, Johannes Langemeyer, Derek Van Berkel, Fulvia Calcagni, Yaella Depietri, Lukas Egarter Vigl, Nathan Fox, Ilan Havinga, Hieronymus Jäger, Nina Kaiser, Oleksandr Karasov, Timon McPhearson, Simone Podschun, Ana Ruiz-Frau, Michael Sinclair, Markus Venohr, Spencer A. Wood

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

Social media data are transforming sustainability science. However, challenges from restrictions in data accessibility and ethical concerns regarding potential data misuse have threatened this nascent field. Here, we review the literature on the use of social media data in environmental and sustainability research. We find that they can play a novel and irreplaceable role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by allowing a nuanced understanding of human-nature interactions at scale, observing the dynamics of social-ecological change, and investigating the co-construction of nature values. We reveal threats to data access and highlight scientific responsibility to address trade-offs between research transparency and privacy protection, while promoting inclusivity. This contributes to a wider societal debate of social media data for sustainability science and for the common good.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	236-250
Number of pages	15
Journal	One Earth
Volume	6
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.02.008
State	Published - 17 Mar 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Keywords

big data
environmental sustainability
passive crowdsourcing
social media
social-ecological systems

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Environmental Science
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.oneear.2023.02.008

Cite this

Ghermandi, A., Langemeyer, J., Van Berkel, D., Calcagni, F., Depietri, Y., Egarter Vigl, L., Fox, N., Havinga, I., Jäger, H., Kaiser, N., Karasov, O., McPhearson, T., Podschun, S., Ruiz-Frau, A., Sinclair, M., Venohr, M., & Wood, S. A. (2023). Social media data for environmental sustainability: A critical review of opportunities, threats, and ethical use. One Earth, 6(3), 236-250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.02.008

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title = "Social media data for environmental sustainability: A critical review of opportunities, threats, and ethical use",

abstract = "Social media data are transforming sustainability science. However, challenges from restrictions in data accessibility and ethical concerns regarding potential data misuse have threatened this nascent field. Here, we review the literature on the use of social media data in environmental and sustainability research. We find that they can play a novel and irreplaceable role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by allowing a nuanced understanding of human-nature interactions at scale, observing the dynamics of social-ecological change, and investigating the co-construction of nature values. We reveal threats to data access and highlight scientific responsibility to address trade-offs between research transparency and privacy protection, while promoting inclusivity. This contributes to a wider societal debate of social media data for sustainability science and for the common good.",

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author = "Andrea Ghermandi and Johannes Langemeyer and {Van Berkel}, Derek and Fulvia Calcagni and Yaella Depietri and {Egarter Vigl}, Lukas and Nathan Fox and Ilan Havinga and Hieronymus J{\"a}ger and Nina Kaiser and Oleksandr Karasov and Timon McPhearson and Simone Podschun and Ana Ruiz-Frau and Michael Sinclair and Markus Venohr and Wood, {Spencer A.}",

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doi = "10.1016/j.oneear.2023.02.008",

language = "English",

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Ghermandi, A, Langemeyer, J, Van Berkel, D, Calcagni, F, Depietri, Y, Egarter Vigl, L, Fox, N, Havinga, I, Jäger, H, Kaiser, N, Karasov, O, McPhearson, T, Podschun, S, Ruiz-Frau, A, Sinclair, M, Venohr, M & Wood, SA 2023, 'Social media data for environmental sustainability: A critical review of opportunities, threats, and ethical use', One Earth, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 236-250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.02.008

TY - JOUR

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T2 - A critical review of opportunities, threats, and ethical use

AU - Ghermandi, Andrea

AU - Langemeyer, Johannes

AU - Van Berkel, Derek

AU - Calcagni, Fulvia

AU - Depietri, Yaella

AU - Egarter Vigl, Lukas

AU - Fox, Nathan

AU - Havinga, Ilan

AU - Jäger, Hieronymus

AU - Kaiser, Nina

AU - Karasov, Oleksandr

AU - McPhearson, Timon

AU - Podschun, Simone

AU - Ruiz-Frau, Ana

AU - Sinclair, Michael

AU - Venohr, Markus

AU - Wood, Spencer A.

PY - 2023/3/17

Y1 - 2023/3/17

N2 - Social media data are transforming sustainability science. However, challenges from restrictions in data accessibility and ethical concerns regarding potential data misuse have threatened this nascent field. Here, we review the literature on the use of social media data in environmental and sustainability research. We find that they can play a novel and irreplaceable role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by allowing a nuanced understanding of human-nature interactions at scale, observing the dynamics of social-ecological change, and investigating the co-construction of nature values. We reveal threats to data access and highlight scientific responsibility to address trade-offs between research transparency and privacy protection, while promoting inclusivity. This contributes to a wider societal debate of social media data for sustainability science and for the common good.

AB - Social media data are transforming sustainability science. However, challenges from restrictions in data accessibility and ethical concerns regarding potential data misuse have threatened this nascent field. Here, we review the literature on the use of social media data in environmental and sustainability research. We find that they can play a novel and irreplaceable role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by allowing a nuanced understanding of human-nature interactions at scale, observing the dynamics of social-ecological change, and investigating the co-construction of nature values. We reveal threats to data access and highlight scientific responsibility to address trade-offs between research transparency and privacy protection, while promoting inclusivity. This contributes to a wider societal debate of social media data for sustainability science and for the common good.

KW - big data

KW - environmental sustainability

KW - passive crowdsourcing

KW - social media

KW - social-ecological systems

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DO - 10.1016/j.oneear.2023.02.008

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AN - SCOPUS:85150072530

SN - 2590-3330

VL - 6

SP - 236

EP - 250

JO - One Earth

JF - One Earth

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Social media data for environmental sustainability: A critical review of opportunities, threats, and ethical use

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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