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Blake K, Anderson SC, Gleave A, Veríssimo D. Impact on species' online attention when named after celebrities. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2024; 38:e14184. [PMID: 37700661 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023]
Abstract
Celebrities can generate substantial attention and influence public interest in species. Using a large-scale examination of publicly available data, we assessed whether species across 6 taxonomic groups received more page views on Wikipedia when the species was named after a celebrity than when it was not. We conducted our analysis for 4 increasingly strict thresholds of how many average daily Wikipedia page views a celebrity had (1, 10, 100, or 1000 views). Overall, we found a high probability (0.96-0.98) that species named after celebrities had more page views than their closest relatives that were not named after celebrities, irrespective of the celebrity threshold. The multiplicative effect on species' page views was larger but more uncertain as celebrity page-view thresholds increased. The range for thresholds of 1 to 1000 was 1.08 (95% credible interval [CI] 1.00-1.18) to 1.76 (95% CI 0.96-2.80), respectively. The hierarchical estimates for the taxa tended to be positive. The strongest effects were for invertebrates, followed by amphibians, reptiles, fish, and mammals, whereas the weakest effect was for birds at lower page-view thresholds. Our results suggest that naming species after celebrities could be particularly significant for those belonging to taxonomic groups that are generally less popular than others (e.g., invertebrates). Celebrities may further influence the effectiveness of this marketing strategy, depending on their likability and connection to the species named after them. Eponyms may serve as a reminder of the disproportionate power dynamics between populations and some namesakes' untenable actions. However, they also provide an opportunity to recognize remarkable individuals and promote equity, inclusivity, and diversity in taxonomic practice. We encourage taxonomists to examine whether naming threatened species after celebrities could affect conservation support, especially for species that are otherwise typically overlooked by the public.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie Blake
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Sean C Anderson
- Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, Canada
- Department of Mathematics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
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Albuquerque UP, Cantalice AS, Oliveira ES, de Moura JMB, dos Santos RKS, da Silva RH, Brito-Júnior VM, Ferreira-Júnior WS. Exploring Large Digital Bodies for the Study of Human Behavior. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023; 9:1-10. [PMID: 37362224 PMCID: PMC10203656 DOI: 10.1007/s40806-023-00363-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
Internet access has become a fundamental component of contemporary society, with major impacts in many areas that offer opportunities for new research insights. The search and deposition of information in digital media form large sets of data known as digital corpora, which can be used to generate structured data, representing repositories of knowledge and evidence of human culture. This information offers opportunities for scientific investigations that contribute to the understanding of human behavior on a large scale, reaching human populations/individuals that would normally be difficult to access. These tools can help access social and cultural varieties worldwide. In this article, we briefly review the potential of these corpora in the study of human behavior. Therefore, we propose Culturomics of Human Behavior as an approach to understand, explain, and predict human behavior using digital corpora.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos (LEA), Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária, 123550670-901 Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Anibal Silva Cantalice
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos (LEA), Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária, 123550670-901 Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Edwine Soares Oliveira
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos (LEA), Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária, 123550670-901 Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Joelson Moreno Brito de Moura
- Instituto de Estudos do Xingu (IEX), Av. Norte Sul, Universidade Federal do Sul E Sudeste do Pará, Loteamento Cidade Nova, Lote N. 1, Qd 15, Setor 15, São Félix Do Xingu, Brazil
| | - Rayane Karoline Silva dos Santos
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos (LEA), Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária, 123550670-901 Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Risoneide Henriques da Silva
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos (LEA), Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária, 123550670-901 Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Valdir Moura Brito-Júnior
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos (LEA), Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária, 123550670-901 Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Washington Soares Ferreira-Júnior
- Laboratório de Investigações Bioculturais no Semiárido, Universidade de Pernambuco, Campus Petrolina, BR203, Km 2, S/N, 56328-903 Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil
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Kacprzyk J, Clune S, Clark C, Kane A. Making a greener planet: nature documentaries promote plant awareness. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2023; 131:255-260. [PMID: 36791803 PMCID: PMC9992931 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcac149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Plants underpin life on Earth and are essential to human existence. Alarmingly, almost 40% of plant species are under threat of extinction, with plants that are not directly useful to humans being particularly vulnerable. Plant diversity and its untapped resources require urgent protection to safeguard our future, but conservation initiatives are biased towards mammals and birds. Plant awareness disparity, formerly known as plant blindness, describes our tendency to ignore plant life and has been suggested to play a crucial role in the bias against funding and support for plant conservation programmes. Previous studies indicate that nature documentaries can generate shifts in audience awareness of animal species by providing vicarious connections to nature. Here, we investigated whether the plant-focused popular BBC show Green Planet had a similar effect for plants and stimulated audience engagement for information after the broadcast. METHODS Online searches for further information were considered a form of engagement for evaluation of the interest of the audience in plants portrayed in Green Planet episodes. The big data activities (Google search engine and Wikipedia pageviews trends) related to the plants mentioned in Green Planet episodes were examined over the period covering the broadcast of the show in UK. KEY RESULTS Analyses indicate that Green Planet generated increased awareness and stimulated audience engagement for further information about plants featured in the show, with audience reaction driven by the screen time. CONCLUSIONS Natural history films can promote plant awareness, and culturomic tools can be used to assess their impact on the general public, potentially also to inform plant conservation strategies. These are promising findings as we strive to increase public awareness of the value of plant life.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stephanie Clune
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Clare Clark
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Adam Kane
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
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Franklin E, Gavins J, Mehl S. “I don’t think education is the answer”: a corpus-assisted ecolinguistic analysis of plastics discourses in the UK. JOURNAL OF WORLD LANGUAGES 2022; 8:284-322. [PMID: 36317187 PMCID: PMC9563323 DOI: 10.1515/jwl-2022-0017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Ecosystems around the world are becoming engulfed in single-use plastics, the majority of which come from plastic packaging. Reusable plastic packaging systems have been proposed in response to this plastic waste crisis, but uptake of such systems in the UK is still very low. This article draws on a thematic corpus of 5.6 million words of UK English around plastics, packaging, reuse, and recycling to examine consumer attitudes towards plastic (re)use. Utilizing methods and insights from ecolinguistics, corpus linguistics, and cognitive linguistics, this article assesses to what degree consumer language differs from that of public-facing bodies such as supermarkets and government entities. A predefined ecosophy, prioritizing protection, rights, systems thinking, and fairness, is used to not only critically evaluate narratives in plastics discourse but also to recommend strategies for more effective and ecologically beneficial communications around plastics and reuse. This article recommends the adoption of ecosophy in multidisciplinary project teams, and argues that ecosophies are conducive to transparent and reproducible discourse analysis. The analysis also suggests that in order to make meaningful change in packaging reuse behaviors, it is highly likely that deeply ingrained cultural stories around power, rights, and responsibilities will need to be directly challenged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Franklin
- Research Group in Computational Linguistics , University of Wolverhampton , Wolverhampton , UK
| | - Joanna Gavins
- School of English , University of Sheffield , Sheffield , UK
| | - Seth Mehl
- Digital Humanities Institute , University of Sheffield , Sheffield , UK
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