Role of Social Media in Greta Thunberg's Climate and Sustainability Action

Abstract

Climate change remains a threatening issue to humanity, and lots of people still think of climate change as a growing issue that needs regular measures to curtail it. However, it is not such an easy task to influence a huge mass, but now it has become possible by social media. Because the role played by social media is enormously huge nowadays and many are relying on the internet to gain knowledge, gather data, and socialize. A 16 year old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg has used social media to raise her voice against climate change and started her first school strike, Fridays For Future, against this in August 2018 at the Swedish parliament. In propagating this narrative, she uses various social media and digital platforms to attract people and institutions in developing a climate activist movement with a united voice and intention. This chapter reveals Greta's social media activity, how Greta uses the affordances of social media to frame the climate crisis and to build a worldwide action-based conversation.