Environmental nonprofits working in Indonesia : content analysis of YouTube videos

Abstract

This study examines the content of 45 videos uploaded by eight Environmental Nonprofit Organizations (ENOs) campaigning to preserve Indonesia's tropical forests, and the responses such videos generate. The method of content analysis is used for collecting and analyzing YouTube videos to determine what appear to be the main types of rhetorical appeals employed. Open coding is used to understand what additional appeals are being used and the responses such videos are generating by analyzing the discussion threads following the videos. According to the literature, common but ineffective rhetorical appeals (i.e., rhetorical ruts) that are widely adopted by environmental organizations include guilt-based appeals, divisive appeals, apocalyptical appeals, and fact-based appeals. Most of these appeals were avoided in the videos analyzed in this study, with the exception of fact-based appeals, which were identified in 73% of the sample. Pros and cons of the uses and avoidance of rhetorical "ruts" are discussed, and new types of appeals identified in this sample of videos are introduced. This research also develops new categories for the study of comments related to such videos.