The quest for “nature” in selfies: how platforms shape nature/society relationships

Malte Rödl, Jutta Haider and Sofie Joosse

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2024, vol. 67, issue 9, 1928-1951

Abstract: Social media and other platforms have become an essential part of outdoor activities as they influence how nature is experienced and engaged with, but also what good nature is seen as. In this article, we explore how social understandings of nature and digital technologies are mutually performed. Using the empirical case of nature selfies—an archetype of imagery on social media platforms—posted on Instagram, Facebook, and Tripadvisor, and a small participatory “breaching experiment” aimed at collecting “ugly nature selfies,” we analyse and interrogate nature/society relationships displayed online within the platform contexts of attention economy and affordances. We conclude that nature selfies reinforce the desirability of consuming “beautiful” nature, while attention economy and platform affordances limit the possibilities for alternative nature/society relationships to be developed and promoted.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09640568.2023.2265548 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jenpmg:v:67:y:2024:i:9:p:1928-1951

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CJEP20

DOI: 10.1080/09640568.2023.2265548

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management is currently edited by Dr Neil Powe, Dr Ken Willis and George Bill Page

More articles in Journal of Environmental Planning and Management from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().