Marianne Benyamin and Brianna Fort

Period 7
Review of Literature of Social Media and its
Impact on Increasing Marine Conservation Awareness
Research Questions: What types of social media sites are used to raise awareness for the conservation of
marine life, and how is it used?
Research Rationale:
On October 10, 1985 a humpback whale was spotted at Oaklands Outer Harbor. The whale,
nicknamed Humphrey, had swum off course of his migration route North and into the San Francisco Bay.
He got stuck in a dead end slough full of fresh water. For weeks people tried to lure Humphrey back into
the ocean, but all efforts failed. By spending so much time trapped in the freshwater the whale began to
show signs of physical stress. News stations were reporting about the dire situation and people wanted to
do whatever they could to help this one whale. Federal staff from the National Marine Fisheries Service,
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the California Marine
Mammal Center, as well as local officials and townspeople all got involved in helping out the whale. A
man named Louis Herman who researched humpback whales thought that the whale could be lured out of
the slough if they played recordings he had made of humpback whale feeding songs. The Navy
contributed by using a powerful underwater speaker and amplification system so that the recordings could
be played underwater so that Humphrey could hear them. Local boat owners and fishermen volunteered
their boats and skills to the cause. With everyone working together they were able to get Humphrey back
into the ocean and safely guide him back to his migration route.
Many marine animals have fallen fate to hopeless situations similar to Humphrey but they are not
so lucky as to receive the support and media coverage that Humphrey did. Numerous news stations were
raising awareness for this whales situation and people connected to Humphreys story and wanted to help
him. Yet there are at least 2,000 whales in Japan, Norway, and Iceland that are being killed despite the ban
of whaling and whale products. The example of Humphrey versus the rest of the whale population is just
one example of people responding to emotion, and helping animals that have stories that they can connect
to instead of responding to numbers and statistics thrown in their faces (Seiter, 2014, p. 4). For years
marine biologists and ocean activists have been striving for an effective mode of increasing awareness for
marine life. Recently, different organizations such as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and the Ocean Conservancy as well as many others have been using social media as a method of
communication. Various organizations have been using social media for years, however it has not always

been effective because many people do not see the reason as to why they should participate in ocean
conservation efforts or how it relates back to them. Consumers and viewers will be more likely to support
a cause if they are emotionally attached, if it is a very popular issue, or if it directly relates to them.
Our marine life is essential to maintaining the delicate balance of our earths ecosystem. The
ocean helps create and regulate weather around the globe and produces many of life's essentials, including
water, food, and even the oxygen we breathe every day, says National Geographic in the article
Sustainable Earth: Oceans. Since the introduction of factories, motor vehicles, and deforestation there
has been a significant increase in the amount of carbon dioxide released into our earths atmosphere.
Simple things in our daily routines like driving to places, turning on lights, or using plastic bags instead of
reusable ones makes us all inherent contributors to the slow decline of our oceans ecosystems. The
acidity of the water has increased due to the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the earths
atmosphere. The fish in the water are being overfished for human food and products, sea turtles are
endangered because so many of them are mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish and eating them. The polar
ice caps are melting because of the increase in climate change. And there are countless other issues that I
have not listed. There are over 200,000 different marine species according to National Geographic and if
we do not do anything to protect these animals they will go extinct. Not only would we be missing these
amazing creatures, but the oceans ecosystems that rely on biodiversity will collapse.
Social media is important as a tool because if used effectively it can cause the viewer to not only
sympathize with the problem, but also take action. It is more effective than other forms of communication
partly because it is more accessible. Nearly two-thirds of American adults (65%) use social networking
sites according to Pew Research Center (Perrin, 2015). Because social media is very interactive, it can
trigger or alter viewers attitudes. Many people turn to social media to become informed on a situation
before making a decision. Viewers like to have a personal connection or an emotional experience with
whatever they are interacting with. Effective communication through social media should be memorable
and leave a lasting impact on the viewer. Social Media is more effective than traditional forms of
communication such as word-of-mouth because it can reach a wide range of people as well as target
certain groups. It is the easiest way to reach global scales while still being able to form a personal
connection.
The American Red Cross has used social media effectively to promote their non-profit. They
haved used it almost like a bridge, creating new relationships with volunteers, the community, and the
general public. The Institute for public relations conducted interviews with about 40 Red Cross
employees in order to find out how effective or ineffective their usage was. They have a team of staff
members responsible for each website. Without staff members responsible for each site, it is difficult or
even impossible to gain commitment from the users they reach out to. The Red Cross can be found across

various social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, but their main issue with the new
technology is catering to older generations who are not on or active on social media. Adults in the age
categories 50-64 and 65+ have been found to have the lowest usage of social media of age groups ranging
from 18-65+ (Perrin, 2015). This causes the Red Cross, like many other nonprofits to use a combination
of social media and traditional forms of communication such as e-mail or telephone to reach the public.
If we were to find what form of social media is the most effective way to raise awareness as well
as find out how social media can be used the most effectively, then marine conservation organizations
could adapt that information to their public campaigns to make their issues more present and heard. This
is why our research question is important. This issue needs to be addressed soon. Already scientists are
doing everything they can to help the sea creatures, but human existence is counteracting their efforts. If
awareness for marine life is increased and broadcasted to a greater audience, then people will be more
aware of the choices they make in life. Little things like carpooling, using recyclables, and taking shorter
showers could be implemented. And it can all start with a social media campaign.
Importance of Marine Life
Although unnoticed by many, our oceans have a huge role in our everyday life, from the air we
breathe to the food we eat. Oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth's surface and contain 97 percent of the
Earth's water. It is responsible for the transportation of 90% of trade globally and 76% of U.S. trade. The
ocean has led to many important discoveries such as AZT (zidovudine, Retrovir), a compound found in a
sea sponge in the Caribbean, used to fight the AIDS virus and a tentacled aquatic organism, called
bryozoan Bugula neritina, which yields a compound that is currently being tested as a cancer drug. There
are currently over 200,000 different species found in the ocean, despite 95% of it remaining unexplored.
Countries around the world depend on the ocean for part of their economy. The U.S. alone produces $282
billion in goods and services from the Ocean with about 3 million people being employed by oceandependant businesses (NOAA). It cannot be emphasized enough how crucial our oceans are to human
existence as well as to a healthy planet. However, the condition of our oceans is not good at all. Our
oceans are slowly dying due to pollution, overfishing, and ocean acidification.
Ocean pollution is the spread of harmful substances such as oil, industrial and agricultural waste
and chemical particles into the ocean. The BP gulf oil spill in 2010 was one of the most disastrous
accidents for marine life. People are stilling working towards restoring the condition of the Gulf of
Mexico to what it was before. When these harmful substances are thrown into the ocean they can kill
many creatures living in the water, disrupt the cycle of coral reefs by blocking the sunlight from getting
through the surface, depletes oxygen content in the water, affects the whole food chain because the little

fish ingest these harmful substances and then the sharks that eat the fish then ingest them, and also ocean
pollution affects human health because they can no longer rely on the marine animals as a food source
because they are poisonous.
Overfishing is caused when humans take out more fish than the fish can naturally replace. As
technology has advanced, there has been a rise to massive industrial fishing operations that can rapidly
empty waters of species like bluefin tuna or Atlantic cod while satisfying an ever-increasing demand for
seafood (Handwerk). This has an impact on the ecosystem destruction, on the economy and fisheries, on
the biodiversity of fish and whether they could go extinct or not, and pollution because fishermen release
waste from their boats into the ocean.
Ocean acidification is due to the ocean absorbing the carbon dioxide that humans release into the
atmosphere. The ocean absorbs about a quarter of the CO2 we release into the atmosphere every year, so
as atmospheric CO2 levels increase, so do the levels in the ocean (Ocean Acidification). The ocean is
presently absorbing around 22 million tons of CO2 per day. This increase in carbon dioxide has led to a
decrease in pH, which means the acidity increases. So far, ocean pH has dropped from 8.2 to 8.1 since the
industrial revolution, and is expected by fall another 0.3 to 0.4 pH units by the end of the century. As a
result, carbon dioxide binds up carbonate ions and makes them less abundantions that corals, oysters,
mussels, and many other shelled organisms need to build shells and skeletons.
All these man made situations factor towards the decline of our earths oceans. Luckily there are
organizations working around the clock to preserve our oceans. However, organizations alone cannot save
our oceans. They also need people to do their part and be aware of how they can help save our oceans.
This is where social media play to inform the public on what they can do to help protect the creatures and
habitats in the ocean.
Different Types of Social Media and Their Uses
Our world is becoming more driven by technology each day. Social media sites have become an
avenue where organizations can extend their marketing campaigns and reach millions of consumers.
Although it is a relatively new tool, social media is used around the world and has caused businesses and
organizations to learn how to use social media to talk to, make connections to, and make relationships
with consumers. (Mangold and Faulds 2009). Traditional methods of communication involved face-toface communication and word-of-mouth, but social media has recently proved much more effective in
reaching the largest number of consumers efficiently as well as making connections. The phrase social
networking sites is often used interchangeably with social media. However, social media is different
because it allows participants to unite by generating personal information profiles and inviting friends and

colleagues to have access to those profiles (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010, p. 63). Thus, social media is the
environment in which social networking takes place and has altered the way in which consumers gather
information and make buying decisions. The hardest part of researching the impact of social media and its
effectiveness was finding studies and data on it. Because it is something that has come about within the
last ten years, there are few, if any in-depth studies on its usage. Much of the research we found was about
social medias impact on marketing, however we were able to make a connection between marketing and
non-profit campaigning because they have many similar aspects. They both have a common goal of
targeting as many people as possible while also effectively getting their message across. Previously,
businesses and nonprofits underestimated the power of social media because they viewed it only as a
platform for individuals to stay in touch with their family and friends. However, it is no longer a medium
that they can ignore as more users sign up each day for various social media platforms such as Twitter,
Youtube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Individuals go to their social media for news, updates from
groups they care about, and discussion about their passions.
Twitter is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140character messages called "tweets". It was formed in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and
Noah Glass. There are currently more than 500 million users, of which about 302 million are active.
Twitter allows the user to interact directly with peers, organizations such as non-profits, politicians, and
celebrities. Users can also interact with their peers and organizations through retweeting, favoriting, or
tweeting about hashtags. Retweeting allows information to spread very quickly because whenever a user
retweets something it is viewable by all of their followers as well as whoever originally created the
message. Favoriting grants users the ability to show their support for a message or show that they agree
with it. Hashtags are a way that Twitter users can follow or contribute to discussions. We found, however
that Twitter was not the most useful and effective form of social media for a number of reasons. One issue
with its service was that it targets a young demographic. The older generation including ages 50-65+ are
in general less active on the internet, but data from the Pew Research Center shows that their usage of
Twitter is by far the lowest of all age groups above 18 represented (Duggan and Ellison, 2014). There are
increases in the number of users for every age group each year, but the age groups 50-64 and 65+ have
stayed consistently the lowest. Another issue with the usage of twitter is user activeness. There are over
100 million inactive Twitter accounts. Users considered active also may not actually be active in
discussions, or discussions may become disorganized as many people try to share their voice at the same
time. There is almost no accountability for users participating in discussions and usually little proof of
how invested in the issue they actually are.
Youtube is a platform where users can create or view videos from all over the world. YouTube
was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal,

and launched in 2005. It is primarily used for entertainment rather than social awareness, but many
environmental organizations or agencies publish short informational videos or long documentaries
through this medium. Some do not consider Youtube a form of social media because there is little
interaction between creators and viewers. Content creators can view comments from watchers, but there
is little room for interaction. Youtube however, is useful in that links to videos can be imbedded in the
other social media platforms. For example, the National Aquarium tweeted a Youtube video as part its
#48daysofblue campaign. Users of Youtube can also also subscribe to accounts that they would like to be
notified of new videos from.
Instagram lets account holders post videos and pictures as well as view those of users or
organizations they follow. Instagram was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and launched in
October of 2010. Over 100 million people use instagram per month. Instagram is a social media site that
allows people to share photos with others, as well as short videos. Users can either post pictures on their
general account or share them directly with a single person. With Instagram, organizations can give their
followers important updates while providing a reinforcing image. The phrase A picture is worth a
thousand words is evident here because the image helps the viewers connect with the animals the
organizations are trying to protect. For example, the National Aquarium Instagram account posted a
picture of a bar of soap that has microbeads in it with a caption announcing that the president has signed a
nationwide ban on microbeads. Also, the Discover Sharks Instagram account posted an announcement of
a new shark species found off the Pacific Coast of Central America that was just recently discovered on
December 22, 2015, called the Ninja Lanternshark. This new discovery is huge and an example of the
importance of organizations updating their followers on instagram so quickly. However, Instagram, like
youtube, is primarily used for entertainment. The 50-64 and 65+ age groups are also very scarce on
Instagram as its user group is mostly youth.
LinkedIn allows researchers to connect with other professionals. It allows users to increase
networking and potentially lead to collaboration with other users. The company was founded in late 2003
by Reid Hoffman and founding team members from PayPal and Socialnet.com Allen Blue, Eric Ly, JeanLuc Vaillant, Lee Hower, Konstantin Guericke, Stephen Beitzel, David Eves, Ian McNish, Yan Pujante.
LinkedIn allows users to view other professionals profiles and make connections or collaborations. They
can also look at works published by others. LinkedIn was not considered the most effective form of social
media because it has less users overall than the other platforms and also is mostly used by business
professionals rather than everyday people.
Facebook is an online social networking service created in 2004 by Marc Zuckerberg and his
college roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. Facebook
is currently used by more than 1 billion people which allows conservation organizations using Facebook

to reach out to huge audiences. Through our research we found that facebook is the most effective mode
of communication because it has the most amount of people using it, and has various different forms of
communication. On facebook organizations can write text posts, share photos, share links to other web
pages, and share videos. Facebook also allows users to see updates and posts from various organizations,
which they can also link or discuss with their peers. Facebook also had the most users out of the older 5065+ age range in comparison to the other social media platforms we looked at as well as the most users
overall. Facebook is almost like a combination of all the other social media platforms which makes it
have a greater viewer base as well as the most effective mode of communication.
Social Medias Role in Spreading Awareness and How Scientists and Organizations Use it
Social media is important because it connects people to causes, and helps people and scientists
communicate with each other. We found that social media is particularly beneficial to scientists because it
can improve their networking, collaboration opportunities, education and public outreach, and research
impact. Social media can also be used among scientists to collect data for conservation efforts. It can be
used to understand species population trends, invasive species spread and how landscapes have changed
over time as well as identify the imminence of threat to biodiversity features that are poorly or not yet
protected (Minin et al, 2015, p. 2-3). Scientists can also use social media to see what causes people pay
the most attention to and why. Drawing a correlation between attention and how the social media was sent
out and on what platform can make future campaigns more successful.
Not only does social media allow scientists to connect with each other and collaborate to find
solutions to problems, it also helps organizations connect with the public to find solutions together. Social
media serves as the bridge that connects people to organizations, and allows organizations to inform
people of what they can do to help. Also, people will often get involved if they see that many of their
peers also care about the cause, so when people share or retweet something from an organization they are
spreading the message. It is like a spiderweb of information, and the more people share it, the better. In
our research we discovered that people will be more likely to actually care about a cause if they are
emotionally affected or invested. Unfortunately a majority of people are selfish, even if its unintentional,
it is inherently a human flaw. This causes most people to only be proactive if the negative effects of
something impacts them. Simple fact and statistic sharing often does not have much of an impact.
Emotional stories like that of Humphrey the humpback whale are what cause people to care. Scientists
and environmental organizations have begun to realize that marine life awareness or environmental
awareness in general is as much a social problem as it is a scientific problem. In turn, policy makers such

as those currently running for office will pay attention to campaigns for causes that have many followers
or gain widespread attention and make it part of their political agenda.
Through our research we have found that organizations trying to raise awareness generally have
more success when they appeal to peoples emotions instead of using statistics, facts, and data. The
emotions that are appealed to the most are happiness and sadness. Happiness, produced from stories like
the happy ending to Humphreys story, is something that makes people want to share what they have
learned on social media with their friends and family. Happiness is the main driver for sharing things
through social media. Emotions layered with and related to happiness make up the majority of the list of
the top drivers of content that goes viral on social media (Seiter, 2014, p. 2). The other emotion that is
used to capture the attention of the viewers on social media is sadness. A study conducted by emotional
scientist Paul Zak had participants watch a short sad study about a boy with cancer. The participants
produced cortisol, known as the stress hormone; and oxytocin, a hormone that promotes connection and
empathy. Later, those who produced the most oxytocin were the most likely to give money to others they
couldnt see. This shows that conservation organizations should use emotions to draw peoples interest
and support instead of being pessimistic and listing the facts about how our oceans are dying.
Conservation organizations can do this by telling stories of individual animals or sad stories of animals
that need help. The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) does exactly this. When people donate money
toward conservation efforts the WWF sends the person a stuffed animal and a story about one of the
animals they are helping to protect.
Finally, social media campaigns are also extremely important to raising awareness and would be
helpful for raising awareness of conservation efforts for marine life. Two examples of successful social
media campaigns are the ALS ice bucket challenge and the videos on facebook called the Like a Girl
series. These are just a couple of examples of campaigns that raise awareness for an issue. The ALS ice
bucket challenge was a social media phenomena that took place over the summer of 2014. People would
be nominated by their friends on social media to dump a bucket of ice water on someone's head to
promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This campaign generated more than 100
million dollars in just one month. Only just recently did conservation organizations start creating their
own social media campaigns. The World Wildlife Fund has created a campaign called the
#endangeredemoji that allows people to sign up and every time they use one of the 17 endangered species
emoji they donate 11 cents. The National Aquarium launched a social media campaign in 2015 between
Earth Day and World Oceans Day called #48daysofblue. This campaign was more interactive than the
#endangeredemoji campaign that just had people donating money. The #48daysofblue campaign sent
participants tips every day about things they could do to conserve energy and protect the oceans, which

people could then post about on various social media platforms such as facebook, twitter, and instagram.
Interactive campaigns like the #48daysofblue campaign are what should be utilized more often in social
media and when combined with playing on emotions would form an effective and lasting impact on
raising awareness among the public for marine life.
Conclusion
Social media is no longer a form of communication that can be ignored. In order to have
successful campaign to promote awareness nonprofits need to use social media in order to communicate
with new generations in todays internet era. Traditional forms of communication such as in-person talks
or information broadcasted on television are becoming less effective in communicating with
viewers/users. Individuals need to be connected to; simple reasoning through statistics and facts is no
longer enough to convince them to support a cause. Unfortunately there is little information on how social
media specifically impacts marine conservation awareness because the possible uses of the tool have not
fully been explored. Social media is also a relatively new concept that has only come about in the last
decade. However, we have been able to observe various social media campaigns on the different
platforms as well as social medias application in the business world. Social networking sites have
become an avenue where retailers can extend their marketing campaigns to a wider range of consumers.
Companies must learn how to use social media to gain a competitive advantage.
We discovered that the most successful platform is Facebook due to its massive user group and
multi-faceted form of posting. However, social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and
LinkedIn are other effective modes of communication. On all forms of social media we found that
appealing to peoples emotions is more effective and connects people more to a cause than if conservation
organizations were to simply list facts. Conservation groups need to learn how to better use social media
if they are to be successful in the future. The tools and approaches for communicating with customers
have changed greatly with the emergence of social media, making its usage crucial towards leading a
successful awareness campaign.

Works Cited
Briones, Rowena L. "Social Networking Fact Sheet." Pew Research Center Internet Science Tech
RSS. N.p., 27 Dec. 2013. Web. 28 Dec. 2015.
Clements, Jeff. "Social Media and Science: Using Online Media Tools to Enhance Research
Impact." Musings of a Marine Ecologist. Wordpress.com, 22 Feb. 2015. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.
D'Estries, Michelle. "The Environmental Groups That Dominate Facebook." MNN. Narrative
Content Group, 20 Apr. 2015. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
Duggan, Maeve, Nicole B. Ellison, Cliff Lampe, Amanda Lenhart, and Mary Madden.
"Demographics of Key Social Networking Platforms." Pew Research Center Internet Science
Tech RSS. Pew Research Center, May 2014. Web. 27 Dec. 2015.
Enrico Di, Henrikki Tenkanen, and Tuuli Toivonen. "Prospects and challenges for social media
data in conservation science." Frontiers in Environmental Science 3 (2015): n. pag. 09 Sept.
2015. Web.
Fraser, Caroline. "Tapping Social Media's Potential To Muster a Vast Green Army." By Caroline
Fraser: Yale Environment 360. Yale University, 11 July 2011. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative. "Working towards High Seas Conservation."
SpringerReference (2011): 1-24. Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative.org. Global Ocean
Biodiversity Initiative, Feb. 2010. Web. 2 Oct. 2015.
Handwerk, Brian. "Sustainable Earth: Oceans - National Geographic." National Geographic.
National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. Johns, David. Adapting Human Societies
to Conservation. Conservation Biology 24.3 (2010): 641-43. Print
University of Helsinki. "Social Media Data Could Contribute to Conservation Science."
EurekAlert! American Association for the Advancement of Science, 15 Sept. 2015. Web. 16 Nov.
2015.
Mangold, W. Glynn, and David J. Faulds. "Social Media: The New Hybrid Element of the
Promotion Mix." Business Horizons 52.4 (2009): 357-65. Print.
Maxwell, Sarah M., Ban, Natalie C., and Morgan, Lance E. "Pragmatic Approaches for Effective
Management of Pelagic Marine Protected Areas." November 2014. Edangered
Species Research. Volume 26, pp.59-74.
Minin, Enrico Di, Henrikki Tenkanen, and Tuuli Toivonen. "Prospects and challenges for social media
data in conservation science." Frontiers in Environmental Science 3 (2015): n. pag. 09 Sept.
2015. Web.

Nah, S., and G. D. Saxton. "Modeling the Adoption and Use of Social Media by Nonprofit
Organizations." New Media & Society 15.2 (2012): 294-313. Web. 27 Dec. 2015.
"Ocean Acidification." PMEL Carbon Program. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association,
n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
"Ocean Acidification." Smithsonian Ocean Portal. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural
History, n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
Paquette, Holly. "Social Media as a Marketing Tool: A Literature Review." University of Rhode
Island Digital Commons. University of Rhode Island, 1 Jan. 2013. Web.
Pressey, Bob, Douglas J. McCauley, Lance Morgan, Hugh Possingham, Lee White, Emily
Darling, and Peter J.S. Jones. "A To-do List for the World's Parks." Nature 515 (2014): 28-31.
Rinkesh. "Causes and Effects of Ocean Pollution - Conserve Energy Future."
ConserveEnergyFuture. Conserve Energy Future, 31 May 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
Seiter, Courtney. "The Science of Emotion in Marketing: How We Decide What to Share and
Whom to Trust." Buffer Social. Buffer, 04 Mar. 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
Toonen, Robert J., T. A. Wilhelm, Sara M. Maxwell, Daniel Wagner, Brian W. Bowen, Charles
R.C. Sheppard, Sue M. Taei, Tukabu Teroroko, Russell Moffitt, Carlos F. Gaymer, Lance Morgan,
Nai'a Lewis, Anne L.S. Sheppard, John Parks, and Alan M. Friedlander. "One Size Does Not Fit
All: The Emerging Frontier in Large-scale Marine Conservation." Marine Pollution Bulletin 77
(2013): 7-12. Print.