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Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media Data for Socio-Environmental Systems Research

Author

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  • Bianca E. Lopez

    (National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), University of Maryland, 1 Park Place, Suite 300, Annapolis, MD 21401, USA)

  • Nicholas R. Magliocca

    (Department of Geography, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401, USA)

  • Andrew T. Crooks

    (Department of Computational and Data Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22020, USA)

Abstract

Social media data provide an unprecedented wealth of information on people’s perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors at fine spatial and temporal scales and over broad extents. Social media data produce insight into relationships between people and the environment at scales that are generally prohibited by the spatial and temporal mismatch between traditional social and environmental data. These data thus have great potential for use in socio-environmental systems (SES) research. However, biases in who uses social media platforms, and what they use them for, create uncertainty in the potential insights from these data. Here, we describe ways that social media data have been used in SES research, including tracking land-use and environmental changes, natural resource use, and ecosystem service provisioning. We also highlight promising areas for future research and present best practices for SES research using social media data.

Suggested Citation

  • Bianca E. Lopez & Nicholas R. Magliocca & Andrew T. Crooks, 2019. "Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media Data for Socio-Environmental Systems Research," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-18, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:8:y:2019:i:7:p:107-:d:245512
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    2. Nicholas R. Magliocca, 2020. "Agent-Based Modeling for Integrating Human Behavior into the Food–Energy–Water Nexus," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-25, December.
    3. Xiaoxu Liang & Naisi Hua & John Martin & Elena Dellapiana & Cristina Coscia & Yu Zhang, 2022. "Social Media as a Medium to Promote Local Perception Expression in China’s World Heritage Sites," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-19, June.
    4. Edyta Łaszkiewicz & Piotr Czembrowski & Jakub Kronenberg, 2020. "Creating a Map of the Social Functions of Urban Green Spaces in a City with Poor Availability of Spatial Data: A Sociotope for Lodz," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-25, June.

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