Social Media as Support Channels in Communication with Society on Sustainable Forest Management

Abstract

This article deals with the issue of using social media to promote sustainable forest management. Major forest managers see significant value in combining various social media channels and implementing a communication campaign. With the help of social media, it is possible to raise public awareness of rational forest management. The purpose of this research was to conduct an in-depth theoretical and research analysis of the use of increasingly common communication channels such as social media. The research and analysis period was set from 1–26 July 2018. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of communication activities, the social media survey was repeated from 1–21 January 2019 and from 1–21 July 2020. The control analysis focused on the use of the main social media channels. The article assumed the hypothesis of conscious actions in the communication of forest management institutions in social media to communicate the rational use of forest resources. The hypothesis was positively verified on the basis of quantitative and qualitative studies of nonparticipatory observation for selected social media (Facebook, Instagram) and analysis of data contained in social media channels. The pilot study was conducted on 45 forestry entities from Poland. The results of the survey indicate the growing use of social media to communicate with the public about forest management. The dominant share of respondents consider social media as effective channels for forest education. Facebook is the most popular channel for conducting dialogue with the public. The results of the qualitative survey confirm the superiority of a graphic or mixed form of information presentation over the written form alone. This confirms the observed trends of increasing use of infographics, especially in communication with younger generations.