Selfies are good fun, but what’s important to keep in mind? Being a traveler and photographer was quite a niche back in the day. You needed the time, knowledge, and financial resources to travel, on top of having a camera and any equipment you needed, which was equally pricey at the time. Nowadays, people who identify as travelers and photographers are much more familiar with the advent of social media. While that is inherently wonderful, this obsession with getting the best photographs, especially selfies, has greatly disturbed our natural environment.
Impact of Social Media on the Environment
Photography is a fantastic tool for conservation efforts. Like art, photographs can often depict emotions that words may fail to convey. For instance, having a picture of the woolly mammoth would garner more attention than a simple description. However, if it existed today, that photograph would likely end up on social media. Once it goes viral, people would probably flock toward the poor creature to take a look or a better photo without learning the consequences.
The worst case would result in the accidental extinction of the animal due to possible poor treatment or exploitation by humans for the sake of uploading something post-worthy on social media. Aside from that, the influx of people to that specific area can also lead to decimating the environment of the mammal. From unknowingly trampling the region’s flora to something more sinister like poaching, both possibilities are on the table.
Though officially protected, Javan slow lorises are heavily trafficked in the exotic pet trade pic.twitter.com/lfKlNS0XAx
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) January 7, 2020
Take the case of Slow lorises, a small nocturnal primate native to Southeast Asia labeled “cute” due to their tiny bodies and large eyes. Videos of this animal being tickled have spread across social media platforms like wildfire. This resulted in the growing sentiment of keeping them as pets and making a tickle video with them. Considerable attention wasn’t, however, given to the plight of the animal and any conservation efforts for it.
Another example is the California Poppies, which drive the point home. A super bloom in 2019 caused a massive crowd to go to a famous hiking trail in Lake Elsinore. The horde inevitably trampled the flowers and ventured into protected areas for selfies to post on social media. Due to this, city officials had to close the area temporarily to protect the ecosystem.
This AM on @ABC7: Families are now being warned, “Please don’t trample on the poppies!” #riversidecounty #Poppy #warning #CaliforniaPoppies #popular #picture #beautiful pic.twitter.com/LrNlLnOOgq
— Brandi Hitt (@BrandiHitt) March 12, 2019
The silver lining
It is not all bad, though; social media has provided several benefits to several conservation efforts. It’s the fastest medium of promoting and educating the public about conservation efforts and why they are essential. From building online communities and crowd-sourcing to documenting illegal activities, these platforms have become a potent tool for raising awareness and mobilizing the crowd to action for conservation.
Photo credit: The feature image is symbolic and has been done by Luna Marina.
Source: ScienceDirect / PLOS / Nathan Solis (Los Angeles Times)
