Skip to main content

Site navigation

  • University of Technology Sydney home
  • Home

    Home
  • For students

  • For industry

  • Research

Explore

  • Courses
  • Events
  • News
  • Stories
  • People

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Study at UTS

    • arrow_right_alt Find a course
    • arrow_right_alt Course areas
    • arrow_right_alt Undergraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Postgraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Research Masters and PhD
    • arrow_right_alt Online study and short courses
  • Student information

    • arrow_right_alt Current students
    • arrow_right_alt New UTS students
    • arrow_right_alt Graduates (Alumni)
    • arrow_right_alt High school students
    • arrow_right_alt Indigenous students
    • arrow_right_alt International students
  • Admissions

    • arrow_right_alt How to apply
    • arrow_right_alt Entry pathways
    • arrow_right_alt Eligibility
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for students

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Apply for a coursearrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Scholarshipsarrow_right_alt
  • Featured industries

    • arrow_right_alt Agriculture and food
    • arrow_right_alt Defence and space
    • arrow_right_alt Energy and transport
    • arrow_right_alt Government and policy
    • arrow_right_alt Health and medical
    • arrow_right_alt Corporate training
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Tech Central
    • arrow_right_alt Case studies
    • arrow_right_alt Research
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for industry

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Partner with usarrow_right_alt
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Explore our research
    • arrow_right_alt Research centres and institutes
    • arrow_right_alt Graduate research
    • arrow_right_alt Research partnerships
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for research

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Research centres and institutesarrow_right_alt
  • University of Technology Sydney home
Explore the University of Technology Sydney
Category Filters:
University of Technology Sydney home University of Technology Sydney home
  1. home
  2. arrow_forward_ios ... Newsroom
  3. arrow_forward_ios ... 2018
  4. arrow_forward_ios 04
  5. arrow_forward_ios Breaking through digital echo chambers

Breaking through digital echo chambers

17 April 2018

‘Echo chambers’, ‘filter bubbles’, ‘information silos”… sound familiar?

The demise of mass media has created issues for environmental advocates seeking to raise the agenda of ‘inconvenient messages’. Our contemporary digital communication landscape has created opportunities for individuals but has also encouraged online communities that can act to reinforce and amplify views.

Environmental advocates, like all wishing to promote an issue with broader public benefits, are asking how to get the message ‘out there’.

How do we break through digital echo chambers and all the noise?

Media studies expert Dr. Mark Andrejevic described the swirling data around us as the ‘infoglut’. It is estimated that by 2020 there will be 50 times the amount of information that was available in 2011. 

With urgent actions needed to address issues such as climate change, we need effective contemporary communication strategies to increase awareness and motivate sustainable behaviours.

My recent research, conducted with Prof. Chris Riedy, indicates some useful digital strategies to broaden engagement around sustainability.

The action research, conducted through meat reduction campaigns involved my participation in key strategy decisions throughout the international Meat Free Week campaign – a campaign that investigates food sustainability issues surrounding meat production, such as intensive water use, high phosphorus use, and the loss of biodiversity.

Environmental messages receive traction in social media networks through being associated with complementary frames. The Meat Free Week campaigns pushed out multiple messages including those around sustainability, health, animal welfare and appealing food. An exploration of the social media trails through interviews with campaign participants revealed that environmental messages could reach and engage with individuals who initially connected to the campaign for other reasons.

The heightened agenda was achieved through individuals referring back to the campaign’s website which provided information on the multiple impacts of meat, or through high-profile individuals who incorporated multiple messages in their posts.

Celebrities and experts can make their mark in effective environmental social media advocacy.  While the legitimacy of some celebrity involvement can be critiqued, the research indicates there are key roles for high-profile individuals who embody suitable frames and, importantly, are seen as authentic in their promotion of “inconvenient messages.”

As an ambassador for Meat Free Week, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver embodies many of the findings. Jamie Oliver, as persona, avatar or brand, means more to most than just ‘UK chef’. He is associated with causes such as health and food equity, and is perceived as being ‘trusted’ and 'do(ing) good ’.

Jamie Oliver was the individual with the greatest social media engagement over the two years of the Meat Free Week Twitter campaign. Interviews with those engaging with Jamie Oliver indicated that his involvement motivated them to promote the campaign to raise awareness of issues such as the environmental and animal welfare impacts of meat production.             

Importantly, social media advocacy is assisted campaigners and communicators to connect and meld broader communities through reaching out to groups that have other priorities. Identifying influential and respected individuals who represent distinct messages can be greatly useful in our noisy world.

Our research therefore points to a number of key strategies to be used in the process of effective environmental media advocacy:

- The use of multiple complementary messages in a social media campaign

- The integration of environmental messages into campaign branding, primary social media platform and posts

- Enlisting high-profile and respected individuals or organizations who represent multiple frames as influencers

- Providing initial templates for social media posts that feature environmental and other major messages, and visuals to help facilitate dissemination

To read more about the research process and our findings, read the full version of the article, Celebrities, credibility, and complementary frames: raising the agenda of sustainable and other ‘inconvenient’ food issues in social media campaigning, in the Communication, Research and Practice Journal, here.

 

Share
Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share this on LinkedIn
Back to ISF news

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation and the Boorooberongal People of the Dharug Nation upon whose ancestral lands our campuses now stand. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands. 

University of Technology Sydney

City Campus

15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007

Get in touch with UTS

Follow us

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Facebook

A member of

  • Australian Technology Network
Use arrow keys to navigate within each column of links. Press Tab to move between columns.

Study

  • Find a course
  • Undergraduate
  • Postgraduate
  • How to apply
  • Scholarships and prizes
  • International students
  • Campus maps
  • Accommodation

Engage

  • Find an expert
  • Industry
  • News
  • Events
  • Experience UTS
  • Research
  • Stories
  • Alumni

About

  • Who we are
  • Faculties
  • Learning and teaching
  • Sustainability
  • Initiatives
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Campus and locations
  • Awards and rankings
  • UTS governance

Staff and students

  • Current students
  • Help and support
  • Library
  • Policies
  • StaffConnect
  • Working at UTS
  • UTS Handbook
  • Contact us
  • Copyright © 2025
  • ABN: 77 257 686 961
  • CRICOS provider number: 00099F
  • TEQSA provider number: PRV12060
  • TEQSA category: Australian University
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Accessibility