ABSTRACT

Plastic pollution is ubiquitous in the environment. One initiative that tackles this global environmental problem is the “Plastic Free July,” a worldwide campaign encouraging consumers to reduce their single-use plastic consumption during the month of July. In the current study, we investigate microblogging in order to analyze the messages people spread within the scope of the campaign. This paper presents results of a Twitter analysis based on data from July 2018, assessing 16,363 tweets linked to the hashtag #plasticfreejuly. User structure shows that private individuals and shops frequently used this hashtag. Simultaneously, a content analysis reveals that consumption patterns mentioned in the tweets refer not only to boycott (e.g. avoidance of plastic straws) but also to buycott (e.g. praising reusable coffee cups) as forms of political consumption. The three R’s of waste management – reduce, reuse, recycle – were frequently mentioned in the tweets. Thus, the empowerment of consumers was promoted by solution-based rather than problem-based communication.

摘要

塑料污染在环境中无处不在。解决这一全球环境问题的一项举措是“无塑料七月”，这是一项全球运动，鼓励消费者在 7 月份减少一次性塑料消费。在当前的研究中，我们调查微博以分析人们在活动范围内传播的信息。本文介绍了基于 2018 年 7 月数据的 Twitter 分析结果，评估了与#plasticfreejuly 标签相关的 16,363 条推文。用户结构显示，个人和商店经常使用此标签。同时，内容分析显示，推文中提到的消费模式不仅指抵制（例如避免使用塑料吸管），还指代购买（例如 称赞可重复使用的咖啡杯）作为政治消费的形式。推文中经常提到废物管理的三个 R——减少、再利用、回收。因此，基于解决方案而不是基于问题的沟通促进了消费者的赋权。