Social Media Climate Change Communication: A Study to Identify Which Kind of Visual Representation is Preferred in Social Media Climate Change Communication in Kerala

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most debatable and relevant issues of the present times in the world. India is most vulnerable to climate change because of its high population, illiteracy and poverty. (Thaker, 2017) With each year passing, the issues related to climate change are surging in India. India was earlier a country without any extreme weather conditions. But now it is evident that every year for the past three-four years particular regions of India like Assam, Bihar, Kerala etc are facing extreme rainfall, cyclones and floods. Even though news and articles about these environmental and climatic issues are being disseminated to the public through various platforms, people are still not properly awareof the matter. As per JagdishThaker‟s research “Climate Change Communication in India” there are still a lot of people who are not properly informed about climate change issues. This study aims to identify which kind of visual representation and social media platforms are preferred in communicating climate change. By studying these different aspects, this study will help in the better dissemination of climate change news and information.A quantitative analysis was used for the research.The was conducted in the state of Kerala among people of age 15-60 who are social media users. Questionnaires were circulated online for the study. A structured questionnaire was distributed online among 500 samples and responses were collected. Purposive Sampling and Stratified Random Samplingwere used for the study.