Program on the Environment

We are living in a new digital age where having a strong social media presence is important for expanding project outreach. Environmental organizations need to prioritize online outreach more taking advantage of what social media has to offer. The purpose of this study was to figure out why specifically photography and videography are so successful when sharing content to people in online platforms. I interned with the U.S Fish and Wildlife service in Leavenworth WA, where I worked with the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, Mid-Columbia Conservation Office, Trout Unlimited, and NOAA. During my time there I created 8 short documentary videos and 300 photographs for all of the organizations to use for social media. The content I created will be used as examples for the research I did dissecting the traits that make them so valuable for content sharing. With a vast majority of people using social media in their everyday lives, it makes sense to prioritize environmental content sharing to help increase community engagement and overall project outreach. Platforms like YouTube have increased the demand/ use of video, which has been even more successful than just sharing images with text. These results are important because increased community engagement with environmental organizations and projects are vital for future success. Having increased growth is crucial not only for environmental organizations, but any business outline. Implementing consistent postings of professional photo and video related content can help with social media growth and possibly spread your message to a much wider audience.