The Arctic Twittersphere and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Abstract

Social media use has grown in popularity in recent years, becoming a primary source of information for many. Several scholarly inquiries have analyzed how the Arctic region has been portrayed in traditional media. However, no study has comprehensively detailed how the region has been presented on social media. The objective of this article is to sketch the contours of the Arctic discussion on Twitter and to inquire whether significant geopolitical events impact the nature of the online discussion. Using tweets on Arctic issues published between January 2020 and August 2022, we assessed the timing, prevalence, and nature of messages about the circumpolar North. Overall, the Arctic conversation on Twitter is first and foremost an Arctic climate conversation, focusing on climate change, Arctic sea ice, and permafrost thawing. Climate issues are the most salient ones and are treated independently from other topics by online users. We assessed whether the Russian invasion of Ukraine changed this dominance. We found that the Arctic Twittersphere remained still predominantly focused on climate issues, although the invasion increased Arctic military security discussions dissociated from other diplomatic or natural-resources considerations.