The presence of new media increasingly provides color for today's technological developments. This happens because the level of media use is growing from year to year, one of which is social media. Statistical data released by We Are Social (2024) shows that as many as 139 million people in Indonesia have used social media. In percentage terms, social media users reach 49.9% of the total population of Indonesia. This data is predicted to continue to increase every year as technology becomes more advanced and varied. The development of technology will make it easier for users to build social relationships. This is what then becomes the driving force for the formation of online communities. An online community is a group of people in cyberspace with similar interests. Members who join online communities can share views, perspectives and information. This group discusses various issues continuously, both formally and non-formally (Alyusi, 2016).

Online communities usually use media to build sustainable social interactions such as social media. Social media is a new media that has strong social power in influencing public opinion, thereby forming new knowledge (Alyusi, 2016). Of course, knowledge will encourage the public to engage in participatory behavior starting from discussions, interactions and social relationships that will continue to develop and strengthen. Using social media is included in the easy category because, armed with retweets, shares or reposts, users can spread information quickly. Where the issues raised tend to be diverse, such as political, social, economic, tourism, including environmental issues.

Environmental issues continue to be of concern to communities throughout the world considering the impact that is now starting to be felt. For example, environmental damage, climate change, rising water levels and other natural phenomena. Various environmental damages that occur are motivated by human behavior that is irresponsible or tends to cause harm. Excessive consumption of natural resources triggers environmental damage. Therefore, mitigation behavior is needed by various parties such as the government, non-governmental organizations, environmental communities, and the public. An interesting thing can be seen from how this issue has attracted the attention of various young people. The group which is now dominated by the Millennial and Z generations has shown its perspective. An environmental survey conducted by Greenpeace Indonesia found that many young people from the Z generation group aged 18-26 years (39%) and Millennials aged 27-42 years (39%) paid attention and attitudes towards environmental issues. Both groups pay attention to the issue of household waste management with a percentage reaching 80%, extreme weather due to the climate crisis reaching 79%, waste management reaching 78%, and air pollution reaching 76% (Greenpeace Indonesia, 2024). This means that many young people from both generations feel that the phenomenon of environmental damage has occurred.

In addition, the attention given by both generation groups encourages the desire to maintain environmental sustainability. There are several reasons for this desire because youth are considered a group that has awareness, has a negative perception of environmental damage, the group that is most responsible and committed to protecting the environment, and the group that feels the most environmental damage compared to previous generations (Sarrasin et al., 2022; Skeirytė et al., 2022; Yusliza et al., 2020). Therefore, it can be said that young people from the Millennial generation and generation Z are groups that will have a big role in maintaining, minimizing, mitigating and reducing environmental damage. This is an opportunity that is worth paying attention to considering that environmental protection steps or movements will be launched and implemented by both generations.

One of the efforts made by this generation is to carry out pro-environmental behavior movements by utilizing social media. Pro-environmental behavior is an action related to efforts to deal with environmental problems, both at the global and regional levels (Anderson & Krettenauer, 2021). Pro-environmental behavior is an activity that protects the environment that can be done every day. The scale of behavior can be carried out starting from large scales such as campaigns, mass movements, even individuals. Referring to social media, pro-environmental behavior can be carried out by campaigning for the importance of protecting the environment. The reason why social media is a campaign tool is because, according to Meng et al., (2023), campaigning on social media is an effective strategy for protecting the environment. Dissemination of this type of information content can be done by inserting various information about environmental education. Dissemination of information protecting the environment is needed to build awareness among social media users. In addition, environmental protection campaigns are needed to encourage discussion and shape public opinion. It can be concluded that this type of behavior can be carried out directly or indirectly, such as carrying out a campaign.

To achieve the desired goals, parties involved in pro-environmental behavior campaigns can utilize various types of social media such as Instagram, X, Threads, Facebook, and the like. There are many social media that can be used for this campaign because both groups, namely the Millennials and Generation Z, use these media. The reach of disseminating environmental information through environmental awareness campaigns on social media will become wider and faster in reaching both groups. In other words, the effect that will be created from the campaign movement will be stronger and will be felt by the Millennials and Generation Z generations. A study conducted by Shah et al., (2021) shows that social media is a driving factor for pro-environmental behavior. The findings explain the role of social media, where messages conveyed via social media have strong persuasion, thereby causing fear and implementing prevention. Therefore, with a campaign on social media, young people want to get involved in the movement.

The hope is that pro-environmental behavior campaign activities via social media can invite other users to get involved. Even though it starts on a small scale (the groups involved are small), if it is carried out continuously it will generate enthusiasm for protecting the environment. In other words, pro-environmental behavior does not need to be started on a large scale, but can be carried out on a small scale, namely at the individual level. However, it needs to be emphasized that the sustainability of an environmental care campaign requires an attitude of commitment and consistency at the individual level, so that the movement carried out seems to be in the form of a large group. When an environmental care campaign is successfully carried out, it indirectly proves that the movement can help to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030.

-Rosmalia Ahmad & Diana Anggraeni

References

Alyusi, S. D. (2016). Media Sosial: Interaksi, Identitas, dan Modal Sosial. Kencana Prenadamedia Group.

Anderson, D. J., & Krettenauer, T. (2021). Connectedness to nature and pro-environmental behaviour from early adolescence to adulthood: A comparison of urban and rural Canada. Sustainability, 13(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073655

GreenpeaceIndonesia. (2024). Isu Kesejahteraan dan Lingkungan Jadi Perhatian, Anak Muda Desak Pemerintah Segera Transisi ke Ekonomi Hijau. Https://Www.Greenpeace.Org/. https://www.greenpeace.org/indonesia/siaran-pers/57908/isu-kesejahteraan-dan-lingkungan-jadi-perhatian-anak-muda-desak-pemerintah-segera-transisi-ke-ekonomi-hijau/

Meng, Y., ChungI, D., & Zhang, A. (2023). The Effect of Social Media Environmental Information Exposure on the Intention to Participate in Pro-Environmental Behavior. PloS One, 18(11). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294577

Sarrasin, O., Roten, F. C. Von, & Butera, F. (2022). Who ’ s to act ? perceptions of intergenerational obligation and pro-environmental behaviours among youth sustainability who ’ s to act ? perceptions of intergenerational obligation and pro-environmental behaviours among youth. Sustainability, 14(January). https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031414

Shah, Z., Wei, L., & Ghani, U. (2021). The use of social networking sites and pro-environmental behaviors: A mediation and moderation model. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijerph18041805

Skeirytė, A., Krikštolaitis, R., & Liobikienė, G. (2022). The differences of climate change perception, responsibility and climate-friendly behavior among generations and the main determinants of youth’s climate-friendly actions in the EU. Journal of Environmental Management, 323(June). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116277

We Are Social. (2024). Indonesia Digital 2024. https://wearesocial.com/id/blog/2024/01/digital-2024/

Yusliza, M. Y., Amirudin, A., Rahadi, R. A., Athirah, N. A. S., Ramayah, T., Muhammad, Z., Mas, F. D., Massaro, M., Saputra, J., & Mokhlis, S. (2020). An investigation of pro-environmental behaviour and sustainable development in Malaysia. Sustainability, 12, 1–21.