Episode produced by Leah Hannah, Sarah Zhao, and Franny Fu.

We’re spending more and more time on social media, but what does that mean for the biodiversity crisis? This episode of Sync into the Earth explores the nuances of using social media for wildlife conservation. Our discussion dives into questions such as: How can social media be used to promote activism? What are some downsides of using social media to protect species? To answer these questions, we speak with conservation scientist and PhD candidate at Carleton University, Jordanna Bergman, about her study Evaluating the Benefits and Risks of Social Media for Wildlife Conservation. She educates us about “bright spots” in social media campaigns, such as a hunting campaign to remove invasive lionfish in Florida. We also discuss how social media can promote the exotic pet trade, referencing the study Exotic Animal Cafés in Japan: A New Fashion With Potential Implications for Biodiversity, Global Health, and Animal Welfare. Finally, we chat about the study Selling Extinction: The Social Media(tion) Of Global Cheetah Conservation that critiques social media for how it can unnecessarily sensationalize extinctions. Ultimately, our conversation challenges us to think more critically about how we use social media for wildlife conservation.