Social Media
Methods
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All of the social media platforms currently used by GBRMPA and ReefHQ allow users to add hashtags, a creation initially from Twitter, to their posts and uploads (Facebook, 2020; Twitter, 2020; Instagram, 2020; YouTube, 2020). GBRMPA even promotes the use of #LovetheReef across the top navigation bar of their website (GBRMPA, 2020a). This campaign can utilise the power of hashtags to expand the reach of eco-arts trail. Social media platforms have shifted to predominately being a visually-orientated experience to enable average internet users to share their experiences and opinions online (Li & Xie, 2020). Many of these posts are labelled with hashtags which allow social media marketing to use them functionally to inspire users to engage in ‘trendsetting’ behaviours (Rauschnabel et al., 2019). People can click or search the hashtag to find posts about topics that interest them (Facebook, 2020; YouTube, 2020), which is where broader engagement in the artworks can be achieved. To provide a considered approach to the hashtags advice, we collected data from Instagram over five weeks. Hashtags were identified through extensive searching of accounts or posts related to the GBR and our partners’ priorities and exploring additional tags that they may be using. A list of location, reef, arts, conservation, and tourism hashtags were examined to gain an understanding from a range of perspectives. Each week we searched every hashtag and recorded the number of publicly-accessible posts on Instagram that were tagged with that code. This data collection allowed us to evaluate the frequency they are used across the globe. Our approach with the data was to use the discoveries to provide recommendations of the hashtag or multiple hashtags to include at each artwork.
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Results
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In our analysis of most used hashtags about the topics of art, Australia, conservation and the Great Barrier Reef, we have found that there are popular hashtags that would promote our murals on social media to a greater extent. Based on what we discovered so far, we suggest that each mural will have 4 to 5 hashtags associated with it. The first hashtag will be place-based (i.e. #Townsville, #Mackay, #Cairns); many of which are already being used frequently. The second hashtag that will be used will be #greatbarrierreef which was the most common hashtag used along the Great Barrier Reef (Figure 3). GBRMPA’s current hashtag #LovetheReef isn’t used as often as #greatbarrierreef, so this may be an additional consideration for our partners. The reference #GBR, while used heavily on Instagram and had some posts relevant to the Reef, was mostly about other uncomplimentary focuses, so we would suggest avoiding this where possible. The third hashtag suggested is art-related. The most commonly used hashtags we found that were art-related were #publicart and #muralart. Either of these would be a good fit to use for this eco-mural art trail (Figure 4). A fourth hashtag considered is a conservation-based hashtag. This hashtag will vary based on the content of the mural. Potential labels could include #climatechange, #conservation and #savetheplanet (Figure 5). The final hashtag is one that is quite popular along the Great Barrier Reef for tourism promotion, #thisisqueensland. This hashtag highlights the state of Queensland, including the local councils along the GBR.
