Kaveera Singh, Surina Singh, Gan Moodley, Deborah Robertson-Andersson. Presented at the ninth Scientific Symposium of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) 2015.

1. AIMS
1.To examine strategies and evaluate bias around plastic pollution awareness
using social media as tools to educate people on the importance of marine
conservation
2.Track the spread and impact of marine plastic pollution conservation
messages.
STUDY 1: Meme & Questionnaire Analysis
 Platforms were set-up on Facebook TM, Twitter TM and Instagram TM.
 Memes of marine mammals, reptiles, birds and marine environments affected
by plastic pollution were created (Fig 1.3) under different themes (animal
environment, mortality, internal and external exposure to plastic debris).
 Memes were uploaded weekly for one month, simultaneously on the 3
platforms, ‘likes’, ‘shares’ and ‘comments’ were recorded.
 A questionnaire was conducted with 60 Grade 10 learners, in 3 schools in the
Durban CBD and analysed using factor analysis
Conservation Education & Human Response
USING SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL TO TRACK THE SOCIAL IMPACT
OF PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT
Kaveera Singh; Surina Singh; Gan Moodley; Deborah Robertson-Andersson
University of KwaZulu-Natal; School of Life Science (Westville Campus), School of Life Sciences
Durban, South Africa
 The common misconception of mammals portraying “Cuddly
Conservation’ has now shifted. In Meme 1 the marine environment
was found to be the highest concern in Meme 1 (52 %), Meme 2
(45 %) and Meme 4 (70 %) however, marine birds (48 %) were
seen to obtain the highest bias.
 Plastic has been identified as one of the major marine pollution contributors6 but one fails to realize that
human behavior is the cause of current environmental problems 3, 4.
 Marine conservation (MC) education programs addressing waste disposal/pollution are largely ineffective1
which implies that providing individuals with information is inadequate to cause a behavioural change.
 Effective conservation strategies require people to feel connected to nature. The use of environmental
psychology will help create new strategies of increasing awareness and moving towards a more
sustainable lifestyle.
“CUDDLY CONSERVATION”,Is the inherent human bias towards animals who are perceived to be adapted to
companionship, typically mammals 5.
“MEMES”, (pictures put together with a call to action) are seen as an innovative way to obtain quick responses in a
short period of time.
“CONNECTEDNESS TO NATURE SCALE”, common questionnaire-based tool used to measure an individuals
“closeness” to nature.
STUDY 2: Video analysis
 Twenty YouTubeLLC videos were critically
analysed for 10 message impact factors.
 The Two Step Cluster analysis determined
the highest-ranked factors.
 Two videos, one with the highest-ranked
factors (Video 1) and the other with the
lowest-ranked factors (Video 2) were
compared by UKZN Honours Life
Science students and Bhejane Nature
Training students.
 Meme 3 had the highest reach (18 838 individuals) but received only
0,4 % interaction.
 Meme 5 (Fig 1.2) obtained the lowest reach (7654 individuals) but
obtained the greatest response (4,6 %) due to an innovative meme
style (background).
 Video 1 was enjoyed more (50.8 %), considered to be
more effective in conveying the message (63.1 %) and
would be remembered more in the long term (67.7 %)
as compared to Video 2.
 The absence of scientific jargon was the most important factor
(100 % importance), followed by a low level of understanding
(80 % importance),
FINDINGS: STUDY 1:
• Facebook TM is the more effective social media platform
(Fig. 1.1).
• 37,5 % of students accurately answered the knowledge-
based questions on plastic pollution.
• “I often feel a kinship with animals” explained 70,7 %
of why Grade 10 learners felt connected to nature. This
supports the contention that humanistic values are
embodied in emotional attachments that humans form
towards nature 2.
STUDY 2:
• The presence of a single speaker, footage and motion
images support the highest-ranked factor variables
(Fig. 2.1).
• A video length of 3 minutes was highly popular.
• Video 1 had a higher preference as compared to Video 2
(Fig.2.2).
• Although Video 1 was perceived as more educational
(43.1 %) by the students, there was not much of a
difference in the number of people that chose Video 2
as more educational (40 %).
CONCLUSIONS
• This innovative method of communication (Study 1 & 2)
helps breach the communication barrier between
scientists and the broader public.
• Studies such as this will help identify strategies to help
promote the sustainable utilization of our natural
resources.
Literature Cited:
1. Flowers, A.B., 2010. Blazing an evaluation pathway: Lessons learned from applying utilization-focused evaluation to a conservation education program. Eval. Program Plann. 33, 165–171. doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2009.07.006
2. Frantz, C., Mayer, S., Norton, C., Rock, M.; 2005. There is no “I” in nature: The influence of self-awareness on connectedness to nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology 25, 427-436.
3. Shultz, W. P., Nolan, J. M., Cialdini, R. B., Goldstein, N. J., Giskevieius, V.; 2007. The Constructive, Deconstructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms. Association for Psychological Science 18(5), 429-434.
4. Schultz, W. P. 2011 Conservation Means Behavior. Conservation Biology 25 (6), 1080-1083.
5. Singh, K. 2015. Unpublished. The use of social media to evaluate the effects of plastic pollution in the marine environment
6. Wurl, O., Obbard, J. P. (2004) A review of pollutants in the sea-surface microlayer (SML): A unique habitat for marine organisms. Marine Pollution 48, 1016–1030.
Figure 1.2: Reach of Facebook TM meme posts (no. of individuals) and
Response to Action received (%)
Figure 2.2: Answers (%) to video preference related questions
for the students
Figure 1.1: Response of Call to Action (%) on three social media platforms Figure 1.3: Bias (%) toward marine animals affected by plastic pollution
observed from Facebook TM memes
Figure 2.1: Cluster rankings of the highest main ranked factors
(with corresponding variables) for the 20 YouTubeLLC videos
 Facebook TM was seen to be the highest interactive platform in terms
of all 3 calls to action, followed by Instagram TM (p= 0,008) and then
Twitter TM (p=0,01).
0,0
0,5
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
3,0
3,5
4,0
4,5
5,0
0
2 000
4 000
6 000
8 000
10 000
12 000
14 000
16 000
18 000
20 000
1 2 3 4 5
ResponsetoAction(%)
Reach(No.ofInd.)
Memes
Reach Response to Action
MEME 5
The authors would like to thank
the NRF for research funding