Facebook Advertisements by Major Political Parties About Climate Change Are Being Directed to Primarily Young Females 

By: Leanna Trister

More young females are being targeted overall by the major political parties than males with climate change related advertisements on Facebook. Approximately 72 per cent of the distribution of all major parties’ advertisements are aimed at a female audience, while male distribution is about 46 per cent and unknown is two per cent, according to an analysis of Facebook’s Public Ad Library.

“This is the election of climate change” says Jean-Luc Cooke, a Green Party candidate in Nepean. He says that advertisements targeting youth are focusing on how the party plans to make everything okay with minimal change to the economy.

Photo from Twitter @VoteJeanLuc

Climate change is a topic that is discussed heavily among all demographics, gathering thousands of people in Ottawa for the global climate strike protest last week. Yet, on Facebook, the messages about the parties’ stances on environmental issues get directed towards young women. “I think they target these groups because, for some reason , they believe that males see climate change concern is effeminate and un-masculine” Cooke says. 

Scott Edward Bennett, a political science professor at Carleton University explains they focus on people in their twenties because of the nature of the issue as well as because of current technology. “The young are more engaged with the environment as a key issue on a consistent basis. So, if the targeting relates primarily to that issue, you target the young.” he says.

Merylee Sevilla, a candidate for the People’s Party says, “It’s important to target younger adults as they are the ones who are often impacted by the policies, the taxes and initiatives of government. It’s about engaging the younger adults into seeing how these policies impact them”. 

Also, the young are more likely to be on Facebook, technology wise, than some other groups, says Bennett. However, it is also true that there are a lot of young people who have moved on to other kinds of social media, but it requires a bit more sophistication to get at them. “The under 25s will be concerned with climate change and the environment,” says Bennett. 

“For the first time in 50 years Baby Boomers are no longer the largest voting demographic. This is a seismic shift in our country’s politics.” says Cooke. As the largest demographic, young people are also being targeted with these advertisements, despite voter turnout from the previous election demonstrating that youth are the demographic who have the biggest difference between eligible voters and those who actually vote. About 29.8 per cent of eligible voters between 25 and 34, did not vote in the last federal election. 

“The parties on the left are kind of hoping that the environment can become a mobilizing device. They might be able to latch on to the current global push for climate change policy that is focused on the young. Not sure how well it will work, but people like a good march or demonstration even if they don’t understand the related issue and its implications” says Bennett. On the other end, the Conservative Party has also acknowledged the threat of climate change with the putting forward “A Real Plan To Protect Our Environment”.

Ultimately, regardless of political stance, climate change seems to be a relevant topic for most voters, but the messages still get directed at young women for various reasons. It could be that caring about the environment could be seen as more feminine, as Cooke proposed, or that there is hope for a higher young voter demographic this upcoming election.