How haters helped the rise of Greta Thunberg's popularity

Since Internet and Social Media have become the network through which information is spread, they facilitate the shaping of the identities of those under the spotlight. Politicians, actors, fashion icons and all those who are visible in the network society are represented through features which do not necessarily comply with their personalities, but which depend on opinions that media and internet users want to diffuse.. 

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The face of the protest against the climate change

Greta Thunberg has been made famous in a one-year time periodthanks to the visibility social media and information means gave her because of her activism in leading the ‘Fridays for future’ movement. In May 2018, Thunberg won a climate-change essay competition for the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. That is how her career as activist started. Three months later, the 20th of August she initiated her first protest in front of the Swedish Parliament. Her demonstration had the purpose of asking the Swedish Government to reduce the emission of CO2 in order to decrease the impact industries are having on the environment.

In November 2018, Greta has been invited to give a speech at the TED  Stockholm in which she explained how she found out about the global warming and the consequences that this discovery had  her. The young activist, in fact, stopped eating and started practicing selective mutism as a consequence of her shock, speaking only in cases of necessity such as the chance offered to her by the TED to be listened by those who are the cause of her life's biggest concern, asking them for a change to happen.

The 15th of December 2018 Thunberg has been invited at the UN Climate Change in Katowice, Poland. There, she spoke on behalf of climate justice, insisting on the creation of an equal system which takes account of the climate and of the consequences for those who live in disadvantaged countries where inequality becomes broader because of human interests. The 15th of March 2019 her action started marshalling kids from all over the world for the first 'Friday for the Future'.

Her popularity kept on growing since she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Price and was nominated "Person of the year" by Time. As the young activist wants to show her full commitment to the cause to which she lent her face, she decided to sail to New York to attend the UN Climate Action Summit. Thunberg sailed on board of Malizia II, a ship which runs on solar power and underwater turbines, generating electrical power with zero carbon emission.

At the Summit, she gave her most famous speech saying that, despite scientists have been talking about the perspective of the damages the industries around the globe are causing to the planet,until now no one really seems to have understood the detrimental effects of it. Therefore, while the men of power are busy in discussing about how to achieve eternal economic growth, entire ecosystems and groups of disadvantaged people have to pay for it with their lives. Thunberge young activist is publicly asking for something to be done on behalf of the future generations at the price of national economic interests.

The 20th and 27th of September 2019, two days strikes have been organized to sustain action as opposed to a one-day protest. This movement represented a breakthrough as it managed to marshal young students from all over the world and convinced them to take part  the global strikes, giving them a purpose for defending the ambient conditions and their interests, online and offline.

                                                                                 Image taken from the Facebook page"Moral Straw", a green virtual community

Greta Thunberg did not have an impact on kids only. Since the protest started, various websites around the world have been created as representative units of national phenomena of rebellion against the climate change, aiming at the common goal of establishing a green world. Also, preexisting organizations of people got major visibility and started acquiring followers tbecause of the relevance the topic managed to gain. The network society allowed those units to spread a message echoing in every corner of our globalized world, escalating in something never seen before and grouping young students in the squares instead of in the classrooms on Friday mornings to demonstrate their dissent against those who did not wprevent this catastrophe from happening, keeping only their interests in mind. 

The general dissatisfaction regarding ecological politics around the world allowed Greta Thunberg to take over and to give voice to communities of people holding the same beliefs, united through the same goals and purposes. In The Netherlands, althoguh the Prime Minister claims to be holding the greenest governement ever, he is actually talking about one of the most polluting countries of Europe. Therefore, 40.000 people of all ages marched in Amsterdam to protest against this policy. In France, besides high school students movement,  a petition is calling to be signed , aiming at reaching 3.000.000 signatures to ask for the prosecution of the French government for inaction against the climate change. The video on the website is sponsored by french actors and celebrities to catch the attention of the public and,somehow, acquire some form of credibility, besides visibility. Straße des 17. Juni in Berlin welcomed the youngsters and their cause protesting in front of Brandenbuerge Tor, which has always hosted demonstrations taking place in the city as the monument represents Berlin' symbol of freedom. The Fridays for Future movement is smaller in the US than it is in Europe because climate change is not accepted as a fact. For this reason, Thunberg is currently travelling around the nation to spread her word to those who still did not hear it.

Dana Fisher, sociologist at the University of Maryland defined the present movement as something that "spans the developing-developed country divide. There aren’t that many issues that would unify in such a manner. And we all know the burden of climate change will fall on these kids’ shoulders when they are adults. They are acutely aware as well.”

 

 

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How the network society defines

The rise to fame of Greta Thunbergthe young activist can be analyzed through the analytical framework offered by Castells in his "The Rise of The Network Society" . As clarified by the author (2010), networks have become the predominant organizational form of every domain of human activitylobalization has intensified and diversified, communication technologies have constructed virtuality as a fundamental dimension of our reality. Because networking allows the exchange and flow of information, experience, opinions and perspectives, it trespasses every border and reaches every corner of the digitalized world. Through social media it has been possible for Greta Thunberg to become known bywards the people agreeing on her indignation towards the politics of the production with detrimental consequences, giving them a collective identity .

At the same time, through social media her image has been re-shaped in many different ways, proposing different images of her, depending on the author of the post. By writing #gretathunberg on Instagram, it is possible to get access to more than 355.000 posts. Not even half of those reports something really connected to the young activist. In fact, the hashtag connects to posts related to plastic usage, the Amazon fire, vegan diets, ecologic products, small movements fighting against climate changether kinds of messages connected to the cause promoted by the young activist, pictures of climate change around the world and many other environmental concern,  herwith thesrender the post . Every action of the young girl has been re-discussededited to  alternative versions of .  some of the will be discussed, mainly created by Trumpian supporters.

(NOS, 2017)

 

This meme is  example of the way in which Greta Thunberg is perceived by the audience and represented . In fact, the young leader who stood up to bring a change into the orld is many times defined such as an annoying person who disturbs the attention of the public to turn it on important matters which clearly want to be ignored.

Posts such as this one or others yet to be commented below are all produced from people whose political orientation is made explicit through hashtags and Instagram names. Their main argument is that all those ideas are made up on fake basis and are only the result of the mind of a child who knows nothing about how the world turnsgoes. Even though Greta Thunberg many times have claimed that her protest does not have a political character but just aim at bringing everyone's attention to a issue which should be of public interest, politics could not be out of this matter. In fact, her underlying fthe importance of a scientific matter of common interest shed light on the common dissatisfaction related to the present political governments around the world, escalating in a serie of national protests and in convincing many governments to rediscuss previous accords made on CO2 emissions and the burning of fossil fuels. The main point of her protest has been turned into an anti-right wing protest by those who support it.

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It’s inevitable that anonymous social media accounts would spew raw hatred toward a teenage activist, but an increasing number of public figures seem to find Thunberg very threatening indeed.

Greta Thunberg's face and her angry expressions have been many times associated with horror movie characters or ugly monsters. Chucky the little doll, Regan from The Exorcist, Smeagol from The Lord of the Ring are some examples of those memes created to associate the image of the young activist to the one of a disgusting entity with the aim to ridicule her. In the above presented example Greta Thunberg is associated to the image of a goblin, a creature present in The Lord of the Ring similar to an orc.

 economicsssuch as the one of the young leadersayingwarmths

 

                                            Another pretty common opinion between those who contest her is that Greta Thunberg is manipulated. The girl is assumed to be exactly as any other kid of her age and therefore it results impossible to many for a sixteen years old to have such a coscience about a collective matter and about the repercussions human (in)action will have on the future of her generation and of the future ones. It results fake to many for a girl to be so conscentious, especially because many are not.

Meat Loaf, an merican actor and singer (once again, a supporter of Trump) defined Greta Thunberg as a brainwashed child , also claiming that climate change is fake. This is an example of the fact that he did not only undermine the figure of a girl who stood up for change, he also demolishes the truth of what she is actually trying to defend. Being continuosly defined as "fake" , especially when this is done by figures on the popular scene, influences the opinions of those who trust those figures, either in a positive or a negative way. There is an association of images and ideas which is influenced by the saying of the public figure expressing a specific opinion about a matter. Because through social media they can display their preferences and values, celebrities can also use them as communication channels to influence their followers' taste and opinions. The idea that Greta Thunberg's actions are the results of adult thoughts is expressed also in the following meme.  

 

 

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Why, amongst all the people who intervened against the global warming, was Greta Thunberg particularly noticed? 

Many people before her, in remote parts of the world, took action against mankind-generated pollution, although they did not manage to become superstars with their own identities and work almost completely erased by a Western media that rarely recognises progress outside its own part of the worldvictims of media invisibility. “So, I’m like, why Greta?And I think that has a lot to do with questions of race and racism, “I think her whiteness is very much an asset for why the media, why governments, why the UN has been willing to feature her.” 

Although Thunberg in her most famous speech angrily says that her future has been stolen, then she adds to be one of the lucky ones. The possibility for a character like Greta Thunberg to bring on her protest depends also from this circumstance. Among all who already took action to save the planet in their own way her richness, all the possibilities given by her social status and the way she looks represent an advantage  her predecessors further broadening an already acknowledged inequality.

The popularity of the young activist has been enhanced and supported by various famous characters. Di Caprio, for example, spent a day with her to discuss about the importance of human actions to save the planet. In fact, not only does the actor support the cause, but he himself set up Earth Alliance, an environmental group aimed at collecting funds to help save the Amazon. His contribution to the cause amounted to 5 million dollars. Naturally, their meeting has been inspiration for the creation of memes about it.

           

                                                                  

Barack Obama is a big fan of . The former president attempted in various ways to lead America in a green way by limiting the ecological footstep of the industries through reducing gas and polluting emissions. The 17th of September he met Greta Thunberg and shook her hand to show his support towards her fight to raise awareness about the topic.

The fact that personalities such as Obama or Leonardo Di Caprio met the young activist or publicly spoke about her define the way in which she is perceived by the audience. Their iconic roles and personalities reinforce and give importance to her figure, highlighting the value of her words and actions and ulterior reserving her a spotlight. In this case, their already famous personalities reinforce the value of the action she took, contributing in growing the number of her followers and supporters because of the affiliation with those eminent figures, who already gained the fame and trust of the audience.

 

The young activist is also been published. She wrote a book entitled” o one is too small to make a difference” which is in the bookshops since November. The way in which Thunberg's words affected individuals' works of immagination represents a treat for the political class, accused of being responsible of natural disasters. Being accused of the death of the planet and of our environment does not sound as something to be proud of, especially when elections are near. Being Donald Trump notoriously a climate crisis denier , his opinion about the matter is always  the spotlight and has been made viral through social media. 

After Greta gave her speech the 23rd of September at the Climate Summit, where Trump was not invited because of his withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement, he said about Greta Thunberg  “she seems like a very happy, young girl, looking forward to a bright and wonderful future”.

 

This quote was copy-pasted by Greta Thunberg and used as a personal biography on her Twitter page as a way to demonstrate her awareness of the picture political figures portray of her and her actions.

The dispute between the two had just started. The  of December, the day after she has been named "Person of the year" by Time,  the American President mocked her by tweeting the following message, which has again been promptly readapted by the activist as short bio on her Twitter page.  

 

The New York Times counts 85 environmental rules and regulations on the way out under Mr. Trump. Because of this premises and because of the politic adopted by the President, he is considered to be the enemy number one of the young activist, therefore their activities on social media are always objects of memes and posts, which draw the attention of the public. This also helped the community of supporters of Greta to grow. Michelle Obama, for example, supported Greta Thunberg by posting on Twitter "Don't let anyone dim your light. Like the girls I've met in Vietnam, you have so much to offer us all. Ignore the doubters and know that millions of people are cheering on you". The character of Donald Trump and his use of social media are also contributing in creating an image of the young girl, shared by his supporters, when on the other hand it is also discrediting his authority, shedding doubts on his  the country and on his way of behaving. In fact, as supporters, Greta Thunberg also had every political opponent of Donald Trump such as Maxine Waters and famous journalists such as Dan Rather, fighting through Twitter posts.

 has many times denied to have merit amongst the scientists who spoke about the climate change; her protest just aims at raising collective awareness towards a situation that should change for the collective good. Scientists have the power to do that and to lead to the change for a bright prospect. Her courage and her determination are what helped her to reach this goal. According to her mother, her stubbornness is also related to her being affected by the Asperger syndrome. As a consequence of this, for the young activist the attention to the climate is not only a purpose for the collectivity, but it is felt by her as a necessity resulting of her awareness of the real situation. Thunberg also claims that the truth of the facts should be explained in a realistic way for the people to understand the entity of the phenomenon.

The above meme aims at addressing the topic of mockings on social media which had Greta Thunberg as main character. The consequences of human action and human (in)action when it comes about the environment have been too long ignored therefore to ridiculize her and underestimate the truth of her claims does not help in solving the issue. The outcome of this would be to keep on ignoring a phenomenon which needs to be actively stopped. The aim of her protest was to raise awareness of a specific topic, too long ignored by climate change denials and all those politics whose main interest has been to grow economically to the disadvantage of the ecosystem. 

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It comes as no surprise that, after her speech at the UN Climate Action summit,  community of haters grew. Laura Ingraham, the reporter of the Fox News Honey go back to school, it is gonna be okay” and then compared Thunberg’s movement to the one of ”Children of the corn” , an horror movie which pictures a group of religious cult kids who murder the visitors of the city to sacrifice them to the will of God. “I can’t wait for Stephen King’s sequel ‘Children of the climate’”, says the journalist at the end of the report in which she presented  as “the leader of a collective brainwash”. On the same day, Michael Knowles has been invited to speak at the Fox News. When on air, he declared that the Climate movement is not based on science and if it was It would have been led by scientists rather than by politicians and a mentally hill Swedish child who has been exploited by her parents and by the international left.

On Facebook different groups called "Greta Thunberg memes" can be found, implying that she has become subject of viral memes . The character of social media make possible to find the same memes and posts on every social network, ult  the personality of the young activist in a heterogeneous way, always representing different perspectives of her and her activism, leaving the audience make their choice, almost always conditioned by the content which can be found

As a matter of fact alsoOnline Haters empower  fight against the system. The public opinion spread through social mdoes not affect the little leader, who proclaims herself as being strengthend by her diversity and will to keep on fighting against the evil of this economy-oriented world. Thunberg has defined her diversity as a superpower, which helps her achieving the goals she want to pursue. Her determination and dedication are the key elements that made this protest possible, giving a face to the largest scale youth protest ever made  the sake of our planet. After all, haters just give her more visibility.

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for granted looking for any otheraboutit is possible to understanddifferentIt depends on her actions, her determination and what is related to her protest. er age, her sex, the fact that she is affected by the Asperger syndrome, the way in which she dresses and all other traits of her personal life have been put under the spotlight by the media with the purpose of silencing her protest by making her unpopular. Her salient traits are taken into account by those who want to discredit her and her opinion by making a topic out of it. All her weaknesses are highlighted by those who see her as a treat for the normal going of economical and political progresses.

 Those media behaviours toward her personality allowed people to speak up their mind, no matter of what kind, and this in some occasions helped reinforcing the opinion of those who already dislike her, spreading and justifying an ambivalent opinion about her. But it also has to do with ofin the social world and it concerns real,and dispute given to her

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Castells, M. (2010). The Rise of the Network society. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, UK. (pp. xvii-xliv).

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