And the Oscar Goes to... Climate Change
A new study led by 黑料吃瓜 researchers finds that Leonardo DiCaprios Academy Awards acceptance speech corresponded with record levels of public engagement with climate change.
Featured alongside the glamour and star power of the 88th Academy Awards was a potentially planet-saving performance: Leonardo DiCaprio used his Best Actor to advocate for action on climate change before 34.5 million live viewers.
A study by researchers in the 黑料吃瓜 Graduate School of Public Health, in the journal PLOS ONE, finds that tweets and Google searches about climate change set record highs after DiCaprio鈥檚 speech, even though coverage in traditional news media did not increase.
鈥淭he clear and surprise Oscar winner was climate change,鈥� said 黑料吃瓜 adjunct assistant professor John W. Ayers, who led the study along with doctoral candidate Eric C. Leas. 鈥淭hese results suggest that celebrities who champion social causes really can make a difference.鈥�
The team delved into public archives for news media trends, Twitter postings, and Google search trends to investigate global engagement with climate change since Jan. 1, 2011.
Focusing on Feb. 28, 2016鈥攖he day of DiCaprio鈥檚 speech鈥攖he team monitored all news reports, tweets and Google searches mentioning the words 鈥済lobal warming,鈥� 鈥渃limate change鈥� or other similar terms.
鈥淲e can directly assess how the population is engaging with a message in real time based on the timing and content of news media, social media postings and Internet searches,鈥� Ayers said.
Twitter posts that included 鈥済lobal warming鈥� or 鈥渃limate change鈥� broke previous records. There were more than 250,000 unique tweets mentioning these terms on the day DiCaprio spoke, representing a 636-percent increase over expected levels based on historical trends.
At the same time, Google searches for 鈥渃limate change鈥� or 鈥済lobal warming鈥� increased by 261 percent and 210 percent, respectively. Searches remained higher than expected for the following four days. Search queries also reflected specific verbiage from DiCaprio鈥檚 speech. For instance, the actor mentioned that 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history鈥� and the researchers found an uptick in searches for the phrase 鈥渉ottest year.鈥�
鈥淐limate change advocacy relies on imploring the public to acknowledge the reality of a warming planet, accept humanity鈥檚 role in the fate of the planet and forge consensus on concrete solutions,鈥� Leas said. 鈥淓vents that kickstart a global conversation, like DiCaprio鈥檚 speech, are the necessary first steps to start change.鈥�
The authors contend their findings may motivate more people to engage with climate change advocacy following DiCaprio鈥檚 model. 鈥淚deally we will see more individuals in the public eye who have remained silent on climate change speak up, knowing their voice can make a difference,鈥� Ayers noted.
When people do speak up, the authors suggest that in addition to outlining the problems, they should also endorse specific courses of action. At the same time, the climate change research community should engage with these influential speakers and take advantage of instances when climate change breaks widely into the public discourse, Ayers added.
鈥淏y using free and agile monitoring strategies, like the ones we implemented in this study, the climate change community can become aware of important advocacy events with enough lead time to amplify a message,鈥� he said. 鈥淚magine if hundreds and thousands of leaders had known to piggyback on DiCaprio鈥檚 message. Could the effect have become even larger?鈥�
Other contributors to the study include Benjamin M. Althouse, Ph.D., Sc.M. of the Institute For Disease Modeling, University of Washington, and Sante Fe Institute; Mark Dredze Ph.D. of Bloomberg LP and Johns Hopkins University; James Fowler Ph.D. and Nick Obradovich M.A. of UC San Diego;, and Jon-Patrick Allem Ph.D., M.A., of University of Southern California.
