TY - JOUR
T1 - #Springwatch #WildMorningswithChris: Engaging With Nature via Social Media and Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Lockdown
AU - Xu, Shi
AU - Murrell, George
AU - Golding, Sarah E.
AU - Brockett, Beth F.T.
AU - Gatersleben, Birgitta
AU - Scarles, Caroline
AU - White, Emma V.
AU - Willis, Cheryl
AU - Wyles, Kayleigh J.
PY - 2021/10/13
Y1 - 2021/10/13
N2 - It is widely understood that nature engagement benefits human wellbeing. Such benefits have been found for real as well as virtual engagements. However, little is known about the role of nature-based videos in social media on wellbeing. With COVID-19 restrictions limiting people’s direct engagement with natural environments, this study critically examined people’s reactions to nature videos posted on Facebook during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Data consisted of comments on videos containing highlights from the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Springwatch 2020 television series, and from a UK television presenter and naturalist’s (Chris Packham) livestream videos, posted on Facebook from March to July, 2020. Looking at the quantitative profile of a range of videos (i.e. views, likes and shares) and a detailed analysis of the 143,265 comments using thematic analysis, three major themes were generated as: (1) engaging with nature via social media is emotionally complicated, (2) cognitive and reflective reactions are generated from social media nature engagement and (3) engagement with nature-based social media as a mechanism for coping with stress during COVID-19. These findings inform understanding of how nature-related social media content and associated commentary have supported wellbeing throughout the ongoing pandemic and their importance as a means of continued support for wellbeing.‘We feel that the injection of wildlife into people’s homes, particularly at this point, would be really valuable and uplifting’.— Chris Packham, 2020
AB - It is widely understood that nature engagement benefits human wellbeing. Such benefits have been found for real as well as virtual engagements. However, little is known about the role of nature-based videos in social media on wellbeing. With COVID-19 restrictions limiting people’s direct engagement with natural environments, this study critically examined people’s reactions to nature videos posted on Facebook during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Data consisted of comments on videos containing highlights from the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Springwatch 2020 television series, and from a UK television presenter and naturalist’s (Chris Packham) livestream videos, posted on Facebook from March to July, 2020. Looking at the quantitative profile of a range of videos (i.e. views, likes and shares) and a detailed analysis of the 143,265 comments using thematic analysis, three major themes were generated as: (1) engaging with nature via social media is emotionally complicated, (2) cognitive and reflective reactions are generated from social media nature engagement and (3) engagement with nature-based social media as a mechanism for coping with stress during COVID-19. These findings inform understanding of how nature-related social media content and associated commentary have supported wellbeing throughout the ongoing pandemic and their importance as a means of continued support for wellbeing.‘We feel that the injection of wildlife into people’s homes, particularly at this point, would be really valuable and uplifting’.— Chris Packham, 2020
UR - https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/context/psy-research/article/1514/viewcontent/fpsyg_12_701769.pdf
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701769
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701769
M3 - Article
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 12
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
IS - 0
ER -
