One sunny afternoon in my sit spot, located in a busy west-end Toronto neighbourhood, I started to notice the people passing by.  Many of them are millennials, each one glued to their phone either looking at their device, reacting to a notification or speaking into their nearly invisible earphones. They are young professionals, on a work call taking their dog for a mid-day walk, and parents out with their newborns for a stroll. Glancing down to see if I had any new notifications, I saw that my Co-Star app was prompting me to check in with myself today, offering bizarre (yet somehow very accurate?) guidance. Co-Star is an app which offers daily readings to users based on their astrological chart. It offers advice, readings about how you are feeling that day and makes suggestions for how to handle challenges in your life. The app also suggests who in your life might be able to help you, and who you should avoid. Astrology apps are something which millennials in particular have an affinity for, a trend explored by pop-star Lorde in her newest song “Mood Ring”. The song is a satire aimed at millennials, commenting on the ways in which the generation tries to feel “‘spiritually connected in the modern world’” (Haylock, 2021), and the stock which some millennials place in things such as their horoscopes to tell them how they are feeling like a digital mood ring.

Inspired by my phone-obsessed millennial neighbours, I started thinking about how I might craft climate adaptation messaging for them, specifically individuals who are concerned and disengaged. Lewandowsky discusses “jiu jitsu persuasion” as a climate communication tactic where “rather than tackling people’s expressed attitudes (such as climate denial) directly, communicators should understand the underlying roots of those expressed attitudes (e.g., a person’s identity as a free-market adherent), yield to those values, and then align messages accordingly” (Lewandowsky, 2020, p.37). What better way to do this than through the very app which my millennial neighbours turn to daily to have their values and feelings reflected back to them?

The two audiences I am interested in communicating to, “dismissive” and “alarmed”, hold specific beliefs.  What if these audiences received Co-Star prompts which did more than offer questionable, unsolicited relationship advice, and what would each group specifically require in order for the communication piece to be effective? Dismissive audiences react poorly to mention of climate change, but positively to mention of local impacts, negative emotive content and specific adaptation advice (Hine et al, 2015, p.8). Alarmed audiences have largely neutral reactions, but respond well specifically to adaptation advice and negative emotive content( Hine et al, 2015, p.8). Following these guidelines, I’ve crafted two different Co-Star readings for both audiences.

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Good evening @dismissive89. It’s Friday, November 05. Today at a glance:

Your community is at risk – but nature-based solutions can make a difference.

Power in action, supporting your community and making a difference. Trouble in health and wellness.

Are you looking for real solutions to protect your family’s future?

Today you feel like there are mounting health risks facing your family and community. Air quality in the city is increasingly getting worse and you worry about the dangers your children could face when they are adults. Know that there are adaptation measures you can take today in your neighbourhood that will impact their safety and wellness. Focus on what you can do today to ensure a bright future for your family and community.

Do: Nature Based Solutions, Attending community meetings, Ask your MP to make adaptation a priority, Think Local

Don’t: Get Overwhelmed, Tune Out, Lose Focus on Family

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Good evening @alarmed92. It’s Friday, November 05. Today at a glance:

The climate emergency is real – but so is your ability to combat it.

Power in organizing, leadership and action. Trouble in calmness and perspective.

Meeting your fears with action will bring you the peace you desire.  

Today you feel overwhelmed by the climate crisis. Don’t let your fears stop you from taking action. Join a local or national climate organizing group. Find opportunities to suggest climate adaptation initiatives at your workplace and consider making monthly donations to frontline climate activist groups.

Do: Take Action, Leadership, Building Networks

Don’t: Get Consumed. Climate Anxiety

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Works Cites:

Haylock, Z. (2021, August 17). Lorde satirizes spirituality in her “Mood ring” music video. Vulture. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://www.vulture.com/2021/08/lorde-drops-mood-ring-music-video-watch.html.

Hine, D.W. et al. (2016). Preaching to different choirs: How to motivate dismissive, uncommitted, and alarmed audiences to adapt to climate change? Global Environmental Change 36, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.11.002 

Lewandowsky, S. (2020). Climate change disinformation and how to combat it. Annual Review of Public Health 42, 1-21.