From Tweets to the Streets: Information Sources’ Role in Sparking Climate Activism in America

• In Event: Highlighted Session: The Role of Digital Media in Climate Change Education and Communication

Proposal

Rapid climate change is leading the world toward a global catastrophe (IPCC, 2014). While it is the government and industry whose actions have the most impact on fossil fuel emissions, the general public has the power to apply pressure and signal priorities, both critical to ensuring such action is taken (Crawley & Chapman, 2022; Roser-Renouf et al., 2014). While most Americans believe climate change is real and report being concerned, civic action around climate change is relatively low (Ballew et al., 2023).

While the education sector is expected to bear the responsibility of teaching children about the climate crisis (UNFCCC, 2022), schools are not yet the primary source of this learning (Gruenewald & Manteaw, 2007). At the same time, exposure to environmental issues has been increasing amongst the public, with information now echoed through different channels outside of schools (Hironaka, 2014). People today learn about climate change from friends and family, as well as traditional and social media (O’Neill & Boykoff, 2012; Stevenson et al., 2019). This paper takes a broad conceptualization of learning that is beyond the K-12 system aiming to examine the relationship between where individuals source their climate information and their involvement with climate action.

Theoretical Framework
We draw upon world society scholarship to point to the global proliferation of climate change communication, the global legitimization of the climate regime, and the mass mobilization of climate activism. Environmentalism and climate communication have been legitimized vis-à-vis the rise of International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), the proliferation of interstate treaties, and environmental social movement organizations (Longhofer & Schofer, 2010; Meyer et al., 1997).

An overlooked piece of how the climate regime is understood and acted upon by citizens is through what we call “climate knowledge sources” or sources of socially trusted climate information, be it social media, the news, books, family, or friends. While scholars have established a research agenda for climate change communication to better understand the stalling climate action in the United States (Markowitz & Guckian, 2018), we explore the link between where one sources their climate information and their climate activism. Similar to Hironaka’s (2014) research, we situate the individual as a critical actor that pressures institutions toward adopting more environmentally conscious policies and practices. This research ties together the literature on world society, citizenship, climate communication, and activism to unpack how “climate knowledge sources” may impact Americans’ participation in climate activism.


Methods and Data Collection
This study aims to examine sources of climate information and their association with Americans’ levels of engagement with climate activism. Two research questions guide this study:

RQ #1: To what extent do Americans' sources of information about climate change determine their engagement with climate action?

RQ #2: To what extent do demographic factors intersect with the consumption of specific information sources and engagement with climate action?

We use data from the Survey on Current Issues by The Center for Sustainable Futures and The Public Matters at Teachers College, Columbia University. The survey was conducted on Qualtrics Panel in March 2023, and involved 2,019 adults. The primary outcome variable measured climate action engagement through six activities: signing a petition, group participation, attending protests, volunteering, fundraising, and contacting politicians. For each, responses were coded as binary and then averaged to create an engagement scale from 0 (no action) to 6 (all six actions). The key predictor variable asked respondents to choose their top two sources of climate information (Books, Internet, Social media, TV/radio, Family, Friends). Six binary variables were derived from this. The analysis was controlled using sociodemographic factors. After data cleaning, 1,998 responses remained. We conducted OLS regression and cross-tabulations for analysis.

Findings
Of the 1,998 American respondents, most (51.3%) took no action, while 13.3% participated in one action and 9.2% completed all six. Half of respondents get climate information from the internet or TV/radio (50%), with social media (31%) and newspapers (21%) following. Friends/family (7%) and books (5%) are less common sources.

Our regression analysis includes two models. Model 1, with an adjusted R² of .25, examines sociodemographic predictors of climate action. Consistent with existing literature, young adults (18-24), liberals, those with higher education, and urban residents are more likely to participate. Surprisingly, males are more likely to engage in climate activism compared to females.
Model 2 adds climate information sources, increasing the adjusted R² to .29. Books, social media, newspapers, and friends are the strongest predictors of activism. Additionally, the coefficients for many sociodemographic variables decrease in this model, showing the strong influence of information sources.

We also examined which populations use specific climate information sources. Black and Hispanic respondents rely more on social media, with little racial variation in sourcing information from books, family, and friends. Conservatives are less likely to use online sources and more likely to get climate information from TV/radio compared to liberals.
The most significant variation in information sources is found among different age groups. While 6% of 18-24 YO get their information from newspapers, 34% of the 65+ group does so. With internet, there is a 16% swing between the aforementioned two groups, and in social media, 64% of youth compared to 6% in the oldest generation surveyed. With TV/radio as one of the two main sources of climate information, 19.5% of 18-24 YO is compared with 77% of 65 and up.

Significance and Relevance
Our study aligns with the 2025 CIES conference theme, recognizing that education is one of many institutions shaping values and behavior on climate change. Findings suggest that younger adult Americans are more likely to engage in climate activism and source climate information primarily from social media. This contributes to understanding who engages in climate action and supports World Society theory by revealing which information sources drive pro-climate behavior. Given the gravity of the climate crisis, these insights are crucial for predicting climate activism. Future research could compare findings across countries and explore how cultural framing of information impacts engagement.

Authors

• Darren Rabinowitz, Teachers College

• Noa Urbach, Columbia University Teachers College

• Sarah Lewis, Columbia University Teachers College

• Niklas Kei Nyblom, Teachers College