• Energy Research

Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are critical pieces of climate change communication. #FridaysForFuture (FFF) is one of the movements with the most coverage. This paper analyzes the network structure generated in Twitter by the interactions created by its users about the 23 September 2022 demonstrations, locates the most relevant users in the conversation based on multiple measures of intermediation and centrality of Social Network Analysis (SNA), identifies the most important topics of conversation regarding the #FridaysForFuture movement, and checks if the use of audio-visual content or links associated with the messages have a direct influence on the engagement. The NodeXL pro program was used for data collection and the different structures were represented using the Social Network Analysis method (SNA). Thanks to this methodology, the most relevant centrality measures were calculated: eigenvector centrality, betweenness centrality as relative measures, and the levels of indegree and outdegree as absolute measures. The network generated by the hashtag #FridaysforFuture consisted of a total of 12,136 users, who interacted on a total of 37,007 occasions. The type of action on the Twitter social network was distributed in five categories: 16,420 retweets, 14,866 mentions in retweets, 3151 mentions, 1584 tweets, and 986 replies. It is concluded that the number of communities is large and geographically distributed around the world, and the most successful accounts are so because of their relevance to those communities; the action of bots is tangible and is not demonized by the platform; some users can achieve virality without being influencers; the three languages that stood out are English, French, and German; and climate activism generates more engagement from users than the usual Twitter engagement average.

The social confinement resulting from the COVID-19 crisis temporarily reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Although experts contend that the decrease in pollution rates was not drastic, some surveys detect growth in social concern about the climate. In this new climate-conscious environment, municipalities and local governments are promoting a new way of living and caring for cities, even before they can regain national and international freedom of movement. This work analyzes the connections between new climate awareness arising from the COVID-19 crisis, proposals of sustainable citizenship around the world, and its communication on Twitter to educate the new eco-conscious audience. The methodology mixes quantitative and qualitative analysis, using the Twitonomy Premium tool and the Twitter research tool with data extracted at the end of December 2020. Among the top ten most influential and active accounts, the results show educational institutions, local institutions, companies, neighborhoods, associations, and influencers. The impossibility of living in the city has not prevented citizen education and commitment to make real change for when that city and its citizens return to normality. However, this new normality must be different: more ecological, more responsible, more sustainable, and practiced from early childhood.