Using TikTok for Political Action: The Willow Project, Global Climate Change, and Health

Abstract

In the fight against climate change, young people have taken the lead. This was demonstrated in recent efforts to influence the discontinuation of The Willow Project, a large-scale operation to allow drilling in the pristine National Petroleum Reserve which is public land in Alaska. Despite the fact that plans for this project were approved by governmental leaders, it is important to document the online effort that was made to oppose this. This cross-sectional, descriptive study analyzed 100 TikTok videos posted on the popular hashtag #StopTheWillowProject (412,300,000 cumulative views at the time of the study). A content analysis was conducted to identify and delineate the messages that were conveyed in the first 100 English language videos that appeared with the hashtag #StopTheWillowProject.  The most popular content categories related to The Willow Project were advocacy (n=87), animal endangerment (n=81), global climate change (n=70), and a call for action (n=53).  The cumulative number of views in this sample was 110,763,667. The mean number of views were 1,107,636, with likes, comments, and shares averaging 211,987; 4,040; and 13,213 respectively. The mean number of views was significantly higher for videos that mentioned, depicted, and/or insinuated issues related to the ecosystem (p=.01) and animal endangerment (p=.01). Of the 53 videos that included a call to action, nearly all (96%) calls were to sign a petition. While the primary aim of #StopTheWillowProject to halt approval for drilling was not ultimately met, this viral campaign can still positively influence the organization of future campaigns.