Workshop Proceedings of the 19th International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media

Workshop: R2CASS 2025: Social Science Meets Web Data: Reproducible and Reusable Computational Approaches

DOI: 10.36190/2025.47

Published: 2025-06-05
Linking Social Media Discourse with Renewable Energy Adoption: A Data-Driven Analysis of Twitter Activity and Solar Panel Installations in Australia
Vinaykumar Chitukoori

The growing discourse on environmental sustainability has found a prominent space on social media platforms, where movements such as "Fridays for Future" fuel public conversations about climate change and renewable energy. This paper explores the relationship between online social media activity, specifically Twitter, and the adoption of solar energy solutions in Australia. By analyzing tweet volumes related to sustainability in five Australian cities-Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, and Canberra-this research examines whether increased engagement on social media corresponds to higher rates of solar panel installations. The study integrates data from Twitter with official statistics from the Clean Energy Regulator to uncover correlations between digital conversations and tangible actions in renewable energy adoption. Employing geospatial and MapReduce-based analytics, the research sheds light on how social media can potentially influence real-world environmental practices, offering insights into the role of public discourse in shaping sustainable behaviors and policy initiatives.