Social Media and Twenty-First Century Public Engagement

There are many competing ways for modern audiences to receive information and news of interest and importance to them. Researchers publish in scientific literature. Politicians and managers receive briefing notes from staff. The general population continues to receive information from radio, television, newspapers, and journals. In 1998, in the foreword to Elisabeth Mann Borgese’s book The Oceanic Circle, Ruud Lubbers wrote, “The new information and communication technology gives enormous possibilities to connect people and to empower people. Therefore the world is not any longer only a total of the nation-states; it is also about participatory democracy globally, and global sovereignty of peoples.” This statement predates the widespread development and use of the Internet and in particular the twenty-first century phenomena referred to as ‘social media’. I ask here whether we are in a position to see social media as addressing the possibilities envisaged by the Club of Rome in 1998. At face value, social media is free to access, easy for individuals to contribute to and potentially more engaging than traditional sources, as it can be finetuned to the specific interest of the reader. But there is a question about this relatively new phenomenon: Is it a help or a distraction in regards to exposing and engaging the general public to the benefits and challenges facing our coasts and oceans? What roles might it play in responsible ocean governance? One of the first issues concerning this question is the definition of social media. As a relatively new and quickly changing technology, it is difficult to strictly restrict the topic to present day online applications. Social media truly began to be a global communication tool with the launch and subsequent growth of Facebook, which started in 2004. Other common present-day tools include: 1) LinkedIn—launched in 2003 2) YouTube—launched in 2005 3) Twitter—launched in 2006 4) WhatsApp—launched in 2009 5) Instagram—launched 2010 6) Snapchat—launched 2011