Comparing Public Understanding of Fracking Risks in the US and UK Social Media

As use of fracking technologies increases around the world, national and local legislating bodies have had to address public concerns about potential risks of fracking. This study asks what types of risks are people most... [ view full abstract ]

As use of fracking technologies increases around the world, national and local legislating bodies have had to address public concerns about potential risks of fracking. This study asks what types of risks are people most concerned about in places where the fracking debate has been highly salient. We examine almost 10 million tweet related to the fracking of shale gas from 2009 to 2015 to examine how people discuss risks. The analysis uses a machine-learning algorithm to code tweets about risks related to human health, wildlife health, water quality, environmental health, climate change, and community disruption. We examine differences in the discussion on Twitter between the US and the UK, and find that in in both countries, more than half the tweets are related to risk. However, in the US, the discussion is mostly general, while in the UK the discussion is dominated by concerns about ecosystems and community disruption.

This submission is in conjunction with the symposia titled: PERCEPTION AND GOVERNANCE OF FRACKING RISKS: US AND EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES proposed by N. Pidgeon and B.H. Harthorn