“Every Small Action Helps Towards the Greater Cause:” Online Communities Scaling Up Online Community-Led Citizen Science in Addressing Litter Challenges in Scotland
Social media is now a new means of engagement and a catalyst for citizen science; still, less attention has been paid to understanding the influence of online communities on community-led citizen science projects. This study used the Fife Street Champions public Facebook group as a case study to exp...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice |
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| Online Access: | https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/579 |
| _version_ | 1797656011572510720 |
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| author | Noleen Rutendo Chikowore |
| author_facet | Noleen Rutendo Chikowore |
| author_sort | Noleen Rutendo Chikowore |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Social media is now a new means of engagement and a catalyst for citizen science; still, less attention has been paid to understanding the influence of online communities on community-led citizen science projects. This study used the Fife Street Champions public Facebook group as a case study to explore how online community-led citizen science projects generate citizen science data to understand littering challenges in Scotland and to examine the impact of the group’s activities and the challenges they face. Data driven-content analysis was used to analyse Facebook user-generated data of 337 posts with comments and images to identify key themes that emerge in the data. Results indicate that group members develop their own data collection tools, share, analyse and present their litter-picking activities to understand the magnitude of littering and the impact of their litter-picking activities. However, the findings highlight inconsistencies in how group members collect and record data from their litter-picking activities. The group also provides informational support, environmental awareness and advocacy, and environmental citizenship. Members also share concerns about eco-anxiety. Lastly, safety and health concerns, COVID-19, and seagulls are challenges experienced by online-based litter pickers. The results contribute to our understanding of the opportunity that social media platforms can provide to build more robust online community-driven citizen science projects that can inform further research. Key stakeholders need to collaborate with such communities to improve on collecting scientifically meaningful data. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:22:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d13e4c1913724edf92998e91fdec1151 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2057-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T17:22:59Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-d13e4c1913724edf92998e91fdec11512023-10-19T08:06:57ZengUbiquity PressCitizen Science: Theory and Practice2057-49912023-09-0181555510.5334/cstp.579347“Every Small Action Helps Towards the Greater Cause:” Online Communities Scaling Up Online Community-Led Citizen Science in Addressing Litter Challenges in ScotlandNoleen Rutendo Chikowore0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0224-2260School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St AndrewsSocial media is now a new means of engagement and a catalyst for citizen science; still, less attention has been paid to understanding the influence of online communities on community-led citizen science projects. This study used the Fife Street Champions public Facebook group as a case study to explore how online community-led citizen science projects generate citizen science data to understand littering challenges in Scotland and to examine the impact of the group’s activities and the challenges they face. Data driven-content analysis was used to analyse Facebook user-generated data of 337 posts with comments and images to identify key themes that emerge in the data. Results indicate that group members develop their own data collection tools, share, analyse and present their litter-picking activities to understand the magnitude of littering and the impact of their litter-picking activities. However, the findings highlight inconsistencies in how group members collect and record data from their litter-picking activities. The group also provides informational support, environmental awareness and advocacy, and environmental citizenship. Members also share concerns about eco-anxiety. Lastly, safety and health concerns, COVID-19, and seagulls are challenges experienced by online-based litter pickers. The results contribute to our understanding of the opportunity that social media platforms can provide to build more robust online community-driven citizen science projects that can inform further research. Key stakeholders need to collaborate with such communities to improve on collecting scientifically meaningful data.https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/579citizen science user-generated datalitter pickingonline citizen scienceenvironmental citizenship |
| spellingShingle | Noleen Rutendo Chikowore “Every Small Action Helps Towards the Greater Cause:” Online Communities Scaling Up Online Community-Led Citizen Science in Addressing Litter Challenges in Scotland Citizen Science: Theory and Practice citizen science user-generated data litter picking online citizen science environmental citizenship |
| title | “Every Small Action Helps Towards the Greater Cause:” Online Communities Scaling Up Online Community-Led Citizen Science in Addressing Litter Challenges in Scotland |
| title_full | “Every Small Action Helps Towards the Greater Cause:” Online Communities Scaling Up Online Community-Led Citizen Science in Addressing Litter Challenges in Scotland |
| title_fullStr | “Every Small Action Helps Towards the Greater Cause:” Online Communities Scaling Up Online Community-Led Citizen Science in Addressing Litter Challenges in Scotland |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Every Small Action Helps Towards the Greater Cause:” Online Communities Scaling Up Online Community-Led Citizen Science in Addressing Litter Challenges in Scotland |
| title_short | “Every Small Action Helps Towards the Greater Cause:” Online Communities Scaling Up Online Community-Led Citizen Science in Addressing Litter Challenges in Scotland |
| title_sort | every small action helps towards the greater cause online communities scaling up online community led citizen science in addressing litter challenges in scotland |
| topic | citizen science user-generated data litter picking online citizen science environmental citizenship |
| url | https://account.theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/index.php/up-j-cstp/article/view/579 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT noleenrutendochikowore everysmallactionhelpstowardsthegreatercauseonlinecommunitiesscalinguponlinecommunityledcitizenscienceinaddressinglitterchallengesinscotland |