@saveanwr : Advocating for Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

     In this communication project, we used social media, specifically Instagram, to try to raise awareness for some of the dangers currently facing Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), particularly the oil drilling in the refuge’s coastal plain. As a way to measure the effectiveness of the Instagram page, we decided to make 50 followers and 100 total likes on the posts our goal as an estimate of the page’s visibility and public interest. In terms of project materials, each group member crafted at least two posts on the page, each focusing on a different aspect of the refuge, in addition to several story posts (now located in the account’s highlights section) in between to maintain the public’s interest throughout the duration of the project. Some of these posts were infographics we made ourselves after conducting some research on the ANWR, and several story posts contain links to outside websites to encourage public engagement in the page, coupled with the use of a linktree for easy access to other resources and petitions, hashtags to increase the profile’s visibility, and scenic pictures to make the public more interested, and therefore more likely to want to enact change.

                                     

We first focused on developing hashtags, curating existing posts on the ANWR (as further resources, shared on Instagram story), and conducting initial research to determine how to most effectively communicate our findings with the public. After our first, introductory post and our first infographic were both posted, we tried to maintain a fairly consistent posting routine to continue increasing engagement and interest in the page. Ultimately, we made 7 posts, acquiring a total of over 150 likes on all posts, and almost 150 followers on the page, surpassing our initial goals. Overall, the process went relatively smoothly, with little issues in sharing the account with the public due to the prevalence of technology and social media in our modern society. However, we did encounter a troll, who must have found our Instagram account through hashtags or our location tags, and consistently commented on posts trying to discredit them for about a week. This can serve as an example of the polarizability and controversiality of many environmental issues today, which often leads to arguments between individuals with different opinions, especially on social media where the consequences of one’s words and/or actions are out of sight, out of mind. 



In terms of course concepts, many ideas about environmental activism and digital media apply to this project, allowing us to directly observe the consequences of effective communication, as well as its obstacles. Our Instagram page itself is a bottom-up site because it gives people a place to engage with the movement to protect the ANWR and stop oil drilling there. On a larger scale, this topic also relates to the concept of environmental social change with the shift towards renewable energy that’s becoming more urgent as a result of global climate change. The troll leaving comments on our posts emphasizes the idea of environmental and political ideologies, and how different they can be based on one’s experiences and personal priorities. Finally, since the Instagram page is an example of digital media, we employed our textbook’s primary uses of digital media in activism. We wanted to alert the public about problems currently facing the refuge and how we can collectively take action to stop them, amplify content from local indigenous voices (Gwich'in tribe) and support the ANWR’s preservation, and engage people in the content we created by encouraging them to comment on (facilitating communication), like, and share our posts, and by posting links to petitions and outside resources the public can access to learn more.

Check out our Instagram page here! @saveanwr

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