In 2023, Greenspector conducted research into the footprint of various social media channels and compared them with each other. This research shows that TikTok is the most polluting app. TikTok has the highest emissions per hour of use. The platform emits more CO2 than any competitor. Research by BlanklessTimes confirms this. overseas data Scrolling through TikTok for half an hour a day for a lifetime is equivalent to the emissions of an intercontinental flight from Rome to Shanghai.
TikTok’s high emissions can be explained by the video content on the platform. In addition, by the amount of data that is exchanged while a user scrolls through the feed. Streaming videos consumes a lot of energy. However, this does not explain why YouTube scores better than TikTok in this study. TikTok’s higher emissions compared to YouTube are probably due to a different way of loading videos. TikTok loads multiple videos at once, while YouTube uses a different approach.
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In terms of emissions, LinkedIn scores best. This can be explained by the focus on less visual and more textual content, which results in less data exchange. The same conclusion explains the difference in emissions between Facebook and Instagram. Whereby the emissions of Instagram are much higher than those of Facebook. social media research 2024: comeback x & success threads short-livedInstagram is also a platform on which more visual content is placed.
In the table below, Greenspector compares how many kilometers of driving is equivalent to using the platform for a year (based on the average use per australia database directory platform per day: 1 hour and 55 minutes). For example, using Snapchat for a year is equivalent to driving 126 kilometers in terms of emissions.
A research greenspector emissions social media platforms
research greenspector sustainability social media platforms
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