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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2017)
6 • The Southwest Portland Post FEATURES February 2017 Dear EarthTalk: What are some ways environmentalists are using social media to further their causes? – Sam Baskin, Tullahoma, TN Environmental advocates and organizations have embraced the revolution in online networking in no small way to raise awareness about climate change and the need for conservation of wild lands and animals—and to generate support for specific campaigns and the green movement in general. Perhaps the most immediate way social media help the cause is via the mountain-top selfie. For many of us, a trip into the wilderness isn’t complete without a public post to announce our whereabouts. At the University of Vermont, researchers are using geo-tagged photos on social media to study the use and relative popularity of different parks and even specific trails. New tracking capabilities of personal technology also record real time statistics that can be used as a crucial defense of public parks. Social media has also been repurposed for environmental activism in several ways. A d v o c a c y o rg a n i z a t i o n s a re able to widely disseminate their messages through different social media platforms. By delivering their messages in a short, dynamic format, these groups are able to reach a wide consumer base. However, it’s difficult to assess the long-term engagement resulting from these messages. Nevertheless, larger environmental groups have hundreds of thousands of online One way people are using social media to further the environmental cause is by sharing their mountain-top selfies, engendering public support for the conservation of wild lands. (Photo by Daniel Patman, FlickrCC) fans that drink up every post and call-to-action. For instance, the Sierra Club has some 625,000 “likes” on Facebook and more than 200,000 “followers” on Twitter. A n u m be r o f e n v i ro n m e n t a l campaigns have used social media to apply key pressure on polluters, including the Greenpeace anti- Arctic drilling campaign. Groups have used disturbing videos and touching images alike to garner large-scale public support. And social media isn’t just for the large, well-heeled groups. Individuals are using social media to similar ends, telling their stories and drumming up sympathy and support. Communities that are suffering particular environmental damages are able to tell their stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms, helping to humanize the issues. F or e x a m p l e , v i c t i m s o f t h e 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill posted about the environmental effects of the accident on Facebook and Twitter. Social media platforms also effectively connect these stories to larger issues through the use of hashtags. This includes a recent movement nationwide to reach President D o n a l d Tr u m p t h r o u g h h i s d a u g h t e r, I v a n k a , w h o m t h e president stated he leans on for advice. The #DearIvanka campaign on Twitter allows individuals to raise their concerns about a number of FROM THE EDTOR’S DESK (Continued from Page 2) No one could move. We had progressed about 150 feet so that we were directly underneath the Morrison Bridge. Soaking wet, we watched as many people simply gave up and made their way laterally out of the crowd. T h e i d e a w a s t h a t w e w e re supposed to march south on Naito Parkway to Jefferson Street, then turn west and then north along 4th Avenue and then back to Waterfront Park and then home. I bailed long before we reached Jefferson Street. I did have a chance to take more than a dozen photos before I quit. After some two-and-a-half hours I was soaking wet and really needed to find a warm, dry space and a cup of hot coffee. I found it at a local coffee shop. After standing in line proposed policy changes, including environmental deregulation and nominated officials. One such tweet read “Ivanka Trump: Please work with your father to respect the environment. Our children’s future is at stake. #dearivanka #greenpeace.” “Social media has become an important tool for providing a space and means for the public to participate in influencing or disallowing environmental decisions historically made by governments and corporations that affect us all,” said Public Lab co-founder Shannon Dosemagen. “It has created a way for people to connect local environmental challenges and solutions to larger- scale narratives that will affect us as a global community.” Contacts: “What’s Nature Worth: Count the Selfies,” http://bit. ly/2hxxqUa; #DearIvanka on Twitter, twitter.com/hashtag/ dearivanka; Public Lab, www. publiclab.org. EarthTalk® is produced by Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of the nonprofit Earth Action Network. Send questions to question@earthtalk.org. for 15 minutes, I asked the cashier and barista if this was the busiest day of the year. Surpise, the answer was yes! Just before I had a chance to order, I found out that a “good Samaritan” had left a hundred dollar bill to “pay it forward” for coffee and espresso drinks for all of us soaking wet marchers waiting in line! So not only was the coffee good and hot, it was free. Be sure and read Post reporter Jack Rubinger’s story about the Women’s March on Portland on Page 8. Spring is coming, we promise! Be sure to advertise in the March edition of The Post. Call Don at 503-244-6933 or visit our website www.SWPortlandPost.com. Deadline is Feb. 20. POST A-Z BUSINESS CARD DIRECTORY 503-244-6933 Antoinette Antique and Estate Jewelry A n Antoinette Sweet GIA Graduate Gemologist 503-348-0411 A N7642 SW Capitol Hwy www.AntoinetteJewelry.com YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD HANDYMAN 20 years in Multnomah Village! “Call Kenny!” Kenneth S. Morse Deirdre McDonnell | Realtor® dmcdonnell@windermere.com OFFICE: (503) 497-5422 CELL: (503) 360-8939 www.deirdremcdonnell.withwre.com CCB License #195820 503-939-5452 morseks@aol.com Excellent SW Portland references