My goal in this research is to look at the mountains and their perception through the eyes of the Media Ecology. Media Ecology is a complex discipline which believes that the media affect various aspects of human life without necessarily noticing.
With the advent of mass media, the world has become smaller. What used to be unthinkable is now a matter of three clicks. Our time is fast, everything is instant and at our fingertips. This setup has affected tourism and sports, among other things. Thanks to the advancement of technology, both are becoming more accessible and what used to be only for a select few can now be afforded by the general public.
As a resident of the mountain region, I notice that these tendencies have not escaped hiking and mountaineering. Because these sports are relatively accessible, the pandemic era has resulted in a huge increase in the number of hikers. It has become something of a fad, communities of both recreational and competitive athletes are growing, people have discovered the magic of the mountains. But I ask, is this a good thing? What effect is it having on fragile nature? And last but not least – how much of an impact is social media having? How do people perceive the mountains nowadays thanks to the Instagram popularization of same places?
My research will be based mainly on the book “Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation” using Media Ecology theory. Originally I wanted to research only my home region – Beskydy, but unfortunately there is not enough relevant data available, so I have to expand my research area. Here I see a weaker part that I will have to keep an eye on. Nevertheless, I find the topic interesting and I look forward to what answers the research will bring.
adja.
SOURCES:
Bain, Kaitlin. “Selfie Inflicted Damage? Social Media’s Growing Role in Mountaineering Mishaps.” Yakima Herald-Republic, January 11, 2022. https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/selfie-inflicted-damage-social-media-s-growing-role-in-mountaineering-mishaps/article_79665ac4-66f1-11e8-8634-670f09b02fdb.html.
Grover, Velma I., Axel Borsdorf, Jürgen Breuste, Prakash C. Tiwari, and Flavia Witkowski Frangetto. Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2019.
Hussain, T., S. Chen, and M. Nurunnabi. “The Role of Social Media for Sustainable Development in Mountain Region Tourism in Pakistan.” International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology 26, no. 3 (2018): 226–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2018.1550823.
Miller, Carrie. “How Instagram Is Changing Travel.” Travel. National Geographic, May 3, 2021. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/how-instagram-is-changing-travel
Mirzaalian, Farshid, and Elizabeth Halpenny. “Tourism-Related Climate Change Perspectives: Social Media Conversations about Canada’s Rocky Mountain National Parks.” ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. Accessed March 5, 2022. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/ttracanada_2021_conference/17/?utm_source=scholarworks.umass.edu%2Fttracanada_2021_conference%2F17&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages.
Oteros-Rozas, Elisa, Berta Martín-López, Nora Fagerholm, Claudia Bieling, and Tobias Plieninger. “Using Social Media Photos to Explore the Relation between Cultural Ecosystem Services and Landscape Features across Five European Sites.” Ecological Indicators 94 (2018): 74–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.02.009.
Scholl-Grissemann, Ursula, Mike Peters, and Karin Teichmann. “When Climate-Induced Change Reaches Social Media: How Realistic Travel Expectations Shape Consumers’ Attitudes toward the Destination.” Journal of Travel Research 59, no. 8 (2019): 1413–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287519883036.
Stoddart, Mark CJ, and Laura MacDonald. “‘Keep It Wild, Keep It Local’: Comparing News Media and the Internet as Sites for Environmental Movement Activism for Jumbo Pass, British Columbia.” Canadian Journal of Sociology36, no. 4 (2011): 313–35. https://doi.org/10.29173/cjs9838.
Tory, Sarah. “How Social Media Change Our Relationship to Risk.” The Journal, July 19, 2018. https://www.the-journal.com/articles/how-social-media-change-our-relationship-to-risk/.
van Zanten, Boris T., Derek B. Van Berkel, Ross K. Meentemeyer, Jordan W. Smith, Koen F. Tieskens, and Peter H. Verburg. “Continental-Scale Quantification of Landscape Values Using Social Media Data.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113, no. 46 (2016): 12974–79. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1614158113.
One response to “The perception of mountains and the social media”
Great, well-focused, idea and a solid initial research.
Media Ecology seem like a relevant field and I think you will have no problem using it in your field study as well. I would see The lack of data in your region as an advantage – you can take the pre-established theories on media ecology and examine how they are/are not applicable in the real region.
Also, you could try using some of the theories of simulation by Jean Baudrillard – his concepts of Simulacra and Simulation (simulacrum = a simulation that entirely covers the reality and becomes a secondary reality on its own… similar to what Instagram does). Other sources could involve early ponderings on media by Walter Benjamin.
Looking forward to see how the project evolves.