Interviews, Science & SkepticismSurfing, Selfies, and Sand
How Instagram Hashtags Reveal People’s Perceptions Of Sandy Beaches
Few were the times I didn’t walk across a sandy beach before paddling out; maybe once or twice, when jumping off a boat or a pier. That’s probably the case for most mere mortal surfers who don’t live on a yacht in the Mentawaiis, which allows us to conclude that the majority of us interact with sandy beaches nearly every time we surf, and therefore are — or should be — au courant with the various mounting threats faced by these ecosystems: overuse, tourism, climate change, urbanisation, pollution — you name it. Yes, we may well be aware of their ecological significance. But truth be told, rarely do we stop to consider, to really inquire what sandy beaches, the biodiversity they house and ecosystem services they provide, mean to us. We keep walking across them; they are a transitional stage between the parking lot and the line-up.
“Beach ecologists often complain that sandy beaches do not catch as much public attention as other ecosystems like coral reefs,” says Lucia Fanini, a sandy beach ecologist at Università del Salento, Italy. “This got me thinking: What if this bias is due to an insight of most people, across cultures, of beaches merely as recreation places, detached from any other connotation, as ecosystem or as part of nature?”
With this question as a premise, Lucia joined forces with Hannah Wahler and Maraja Riechers from the Faculty of Sustainability at Leuphana University Lüneburg in Germany to explore how tourists and visitors perceive and value sandy beaches. Their approach was unusual and pioneering: they conducted a netnographic analysis (a form of qualitative research that investigates cultural experiences reflected in social media) of Instagram posts, the findings of which were presented in a paper published last June.
Adopting the concept of Littoral Active Zone (a dynamic zone along the coast where waves, tides, and currents interact with the beach and dunes) as boundary for the social-ecological system of sandy beaches, Lucia and her colleagues asked: Do people value the ecosystem “beach” for its inherent value as an end in itself and independent of human experience (intrinsic value), as a means to achieve human ends or satisfy human needs (instrumental value), and/or because they appreciate the relationship they have with the beach through recreation, sense of place or stewardship (relational value)?
To identify trends that would help determine which value stood out, the team collected the ten most-liked posts every day in August 2021 using the hashtag #sandybeach — a total of 303. Then, they coded each of them to identify intrinsic, instrumental, and relational values. For instance, the category “Recreation and Enjoyment” referred to the possibility of active and passive recreational activities in the LAZ, like relaxation or sports such as surfing; meanwhile, “Social Relation” referred to using the LAZ as a meeting point and a place to share memories.
The analysis revealed that sandy beaches were mostly presented as fine-grained, gently sloped, white or beige beaches with light-blue water — which supports the hypothesis of a perception bias. The most frequent human activities depicted in the posts were artistic posing/modelling and surfing. As for the values attributed to sandy beaches, the most common was "Recreation and Enjoyment”, followed by “Aesthetics and Inspiration”. Intrinsic and instrumental values relating to fishing, as well as relational values of cultural heritage, spirituality, and education, were the least frequent.
Based on the findings, the authors suggest that a strong focus on recreational and aesthetic values might lead to management practices that prioritise visitors' preferences over ecological functions and biodiversity conservation. To counteract that, they highlight that a shift of perception is needed and that efforts to do so should consider educating the public about the multiple ecological functions of sandy beaches.
Surf Simply caught up with Lucia to learn more about the ins and outs of the research and hear her take on the place of surfing and surfers in all this.
The research includes a netnographic analysis of Instagram posts to understand the values and preferences of tourists and visitors towards sandy beaches. Could you please explain in more detail how this process works?
As in every research process, we follow a protocol. The one applied to our study is illustrated in the book “Netnography” by Kozinets, which is the main reference for netnographic studies across disciplines — from marketing to healthcare, to design. The steps are part of the approach to this kind of study; what we did have to discuss via multiple meetings online was the content of what we wanted to be collated, coded, combined, counted and charted: the ecological and relational values possibly represented in Instagram posts. To be able to define those clearly, we used concepts already available in the fields of ecology and social sciences. What we had to do was to make them become features recognisable in a picture. For instance, a person posting a selfie of him/herself looking at the sunset, with the picture including clear water and some dune vegetation would be coded as a single person, posing for the picture, considering clear water and dune as part of the landscape that needs to be seen by others. We began working on posts with the hashtag #sandybeach, selecting the top 10 posts/day in terms of likes, avoiding the commercial and the influencers ones. Many more meetings were held to cross-check the way we coded the pictures, and make sure we all agreed upon bith that and the protocol for netnography so that and our take on the content could become a clear, replicable workflow that anyone can repeat when checking in a couple of years if something has changed. Or, for instance, as it was suggested by colleagues at a conference where the work was presented, if using #playa instead of #sandybeach would give the same results.
The results highlight that recreation and aesthetics are the dominant relational values associated with sandy beaches, whereas values such as stewardship or environmental awareness were relatively low in the Instagram posts. How do you interpret this dominance of relational values over intrinsic and instrumental values? And what challenges might arise from this lack of emphasis on ecological values when it comes to shaping conservation strategies for sandy beaches?
This confirms the dialectic around sandy beaches as a recreation product. If I’m correct, the vision of sandy beaches as a touristic goal — to be shown in pictures as a kind of “proof of holidays” — dates back to the 60s. Whereas the ecology of sandy shores, considering beaches as environments, was established in the 80s. There is a 20-year gap, so awareness and values other than recreation and aesthetics need to catch up.
In parallel, many people often only visit a beach for a couple of weeks (if not less) per year, which can produce a lack of connection, or interest, in ecological values. Beach literacy is quite low: How many people, among the transient visitors, are able to mention a few species of plants and animals living on a beach? This makes it difficult for conservation strategies, of course, if what needs to be conserved is so overlooked…
Another thought we had is that stewardship and environmental awareness do exist — but they are disconnected from the groups using #sandybeach as a hashtag. Maybe they use other hashtags, related to cleanups, NGOs, or movements… That’s a good starting point for the next study!
Considering the interplay between human behaviour and environmental preservation, do you believe it's more effective to appeal to people's emotional connections with sandy beaches or to present scientific evidence and ecological facts when promoting conservation actions?
Both, possibly in combination. Given that recreation is often tied to very positive experiences, emotional connections can be created and nurtured. Furthermore, as someone who used to spend summers at the same beach, in the village where my grandfather was from, I feel connected to a specific beach more than the many other beaches I studied for example. There’s a surprising number of initiatives around “adopting a beach”, all based on the establishment of a bond with a beach as a baseline to take care of it. Also, the NGO “Praia Com Vida” (Beach With Life or Lively Beach) from Rio de Janeiro often works on the already existing connections, asking followers of their IG and TikTok to collect memories through the series “Praias da Infancia” (Childhood Beaches). An important part of these initiatives is listening to people's stories. We need to listen well before jumping in and proposing conservation. I do also believe in facts, especially when it comes to evidence-based policies, such as the ban on single-use plastics (EU, 2019), which was based on beach litter collection.
Surfing was one of the two main activities found in your sample. From this, I have two questions. First: Could you please talk about the relationship between surfing and the ecological features of sandy beaches in more detail? How does surfing reflect and contribute to the broader values associated with sandy beaches? And what implications does this have for conservation efforts?
We were really pleased to be able to highlight this connection. Essentially, the reason for this is geomorphological. The “beach” is defined by the area across land and sea where the substrate (sand, in the case of a sandy beach) is moved continuously by the energy of winds, tides and waves — to a different extent depending on the place, its exposure, etc. — and this includes the surf zone. It is following this definition that surfing, as an activity, appeared present in posts, and scored second in terms of frequency of activity.
Of course, the set of ecological features represented in pictures with surfing focused on the colour of the water, and not many included the full beach profile. However, we know that surfers are connected to the broader values, where the beach is a meeting point: surfers really get to know a beach and its features such as waves and profile. This enhances their sensitivity to impacts affecting the shore, like water pollution and litter.
Many surfers are also promoters of cleanups and networks for the reporting of pollution events along coastlines, in a kind of intertwined care to human and environmental health. As mentioned above, the connection with stewardship did not result clearly from our analysis. But this might relate to the fact that we tend to filter the content we post on IG, aiming for pleasant images to be associated with activities on the beach, whilst environmental awareness is directed to actions and active citizenship — but not visualized.
Second: In your opinion, what is the role and responsibility of surfers in conserving the biodiversity and ecosystem services of sandy beaches? And how could the average surfer, as well as professional surfers with thousands of IG followers, help promote beach conservation through their social media?
We believe that surfers can be among the most powerful monitors of sandy beaches’ functionality. In fact, it is functionality that sustains both biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by a sandy shore. A functional beach has elements of life in it, and it is the difference with the sterilised, picture-perfect beach that stands out in this case. The presence of a dune with native plants instead of introduced ones; the presence of stranded wrack when the sea brings in food for resident fauna, and some crawling, jumping, and building holes in the sand — these are all elements that need to be celebrated as much as a good wave. Human behaviour should also be highlighted when transforming towards sustainability: a beach bar giving free coffee for every kilo of marine litter, or the use of sustainable materials to build shacks and lounge chairs. This can easily be photographed and reported on IG. And if you add #sandybeach, we might even check it out in our next survey.
The Discussion section of the paper mentions the importance of shifting visitors' and tourists' perceptions of sandy beaches from a focus on aesthetics to one that considers the diverse ecological functions. In your view, what is the most significant takeaway from this study that should inspire individuals, communities, and policymakers to take concrete steps towards a more sustainable and balanced management of sandy beaches?
I will start from a commercial point of view. To me, it is striking that, whereas many sectors, from fashion to energy, shift towards nature-based or greener options, beach tourism — which is based on natural capital and landscape beauty — has remained stuck in old models. Even business-wise, it does not seem adaptive. A transformative change should pass through literacy of what a sandy shore is. I believe that this is key because sandy shores are often considered a desert — but they are not. Animals inhabiting a beach might be cryptic and nocturnal (not very fancy for IG), but they are essential for the exchanges between land and sea in terms of organic matter.
How to pass this message? Maybe we as researchers can work in tighter connection with communicators. Beached wrack seems a nuisance to many beachgoers, but it’s a natural buffer against beach erosion. Those who are in charge of managing beaches are unfortunately left alone to face a population of visitors, of which it is unknown the level of literacy, attitudes and resulting behaviour. I strongly believe in curiosity as a driver for many things, and everyone should find the occasion to be a bit more curious, discover a bit more, bond and protect beaches. Also, good practices should become ingrained in daily behaviour when visiting a beach. The #Take3fortheSea is a good example: beachgoers are invited to do a little action, yet magnified by their numbers and the frequency they visit a beach. The same could be applied to the habit of observing (e.g. noting three things) and taking care of beaches as a baseline.
From a practical standpoint, based on the values identified in your research, how can conservation practitioners and policymakers leverage this information to better communicate the ecological significance of sandy beaches and encourage sustainable use?
Those values stem from natural capital. Not only protecting, but also restoring beaches — there are several examples of how restored dunes greatly improved the landscape. The concept of social-ecological environments, by Elinor Ostrom (Nobel laureate for Economics in 2009), puts a lot of emphasis on the responsibility and role of society to keep the environment thriving. And this includes its changes: we need to consider that living systems do not remain the same, but are actively maintained by its components. Even when we see an equilibrium, it is a dynamic one. I do believe that this is a core concept for managers and policymakers to uptake and distribute responsibilities.
If you could propose a bold, out-of-the-box initiative to transform sandy beach management, what innovative approach or intervention would you introduce to better integrate social values and ecological considerations?
The fact is that beach management is on the shoulders of local managers, while visitors are such a broad, and “mobile target”. They should be more involved, starting from literacy of course. Online communities might help reach them; nevertheless, managers and enterprises might start the process by integrating basic beach and ocean literacy into their offers — but in this case, they should be sustained, not loaded with one more task.
What are the potential next steps or future research directions based on the findings of this study?
It is good when out of research questions, more research questions come out. And we are proud to have many! Some examples are analysing hashtag co-occurrences, or multiple languages, and even follow-ups of the same study. This would allow us to monitor the background perception and representation of sandy beaches, and eventually, their evolution, or actions undertaken in specific places (even if remote) that hold the potential to be replicated somewhere else. Implicit in any next step is the fact that we ourselves need to keep studying and training. Possibly including other media such as TikTok. Or, as it was suggested by colleagues at the Netnography conference this year, to start considering reviews of places, and the discourse that they hold.
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The author and Surf Simply would like to thank sandy beach ecologist Lucia Fanini for sharing her research findings with us for this article.