ABSTRACT
Social media (SM) include Internet applications that allow users to upload photographs, texts, and other information, for rich qualitative and quantitative datasets. SM data is gaining increasing importance in sustainability research due to the large amount of accessible data, available at large spatial and temporal scale, at detailed spatial resolution, and quasi- in real time. Thanks to these advantages, SM data provide a valid addition and a complement to the often time-consuming and resource-intensive, survey-based approaches. SM data are primarily used in sustainability research to improve the assessment and monitoring of human-nature interactions, and to enhance landscape and urban planning. Specific applications are the monitoring of touristic flows and recreational opportunities offered by a site and capturing the aesthetic and other cultural benefits provided by a landscape. SM data also facilitate the analysis and understanding of the local, social, and spatio-temporal dynamics that take place in the urban context. Furthermore, SM analyses can improve environmental management and conservation, complement remote sensing data, and support timely responses to natural hazards. This chapter provides background information on how to retrieve and analyse SM data. It explores their different applications to inform sustainability research, and discusses potential advantages and limitations, such as privacy and ethical issues, which need to be considered while engaging with this source of data.
