Sustainable Content: A Framework for Advancing Sustainability in Social Media Content Production and Digital Media Resilience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25120/jre.5.2.2025.4309Keywords:
Sustainable Content, Sustainability, Social Media Content, Online Content, Digital Content, Influencers, Resilience, Digital MediaAbstract
The digital world is significantly contributing to environmental destruction from the production of digital content and the behaviours of producers and consumers. The annual global carbon footprint of the social media platform TikTok alone is already comparable to that of a country like Greece (Shepherd, 2025; O’Brien, 2024). Hence, failing to address the issue now will only worsen our environment rapidly. In this piece, I further problematise this issue by making online influencers accountable for their actions in content production. I introduce the term “sustainable content” to help provide solutions in the field. Sustainable content is a discipline influencers should foster among themselves and later apply when producing social media content. Three types of content that are deemed fun but are actually detrimental to the environment are discussed: mukbang, luxury travel, and livestreaming. Three solutions in the context of sustainable content are also provided by analysing the psychology behind the fame of each content type. The goal of introducing sustainable content to academia is to integrate the digital communications field into global sustainability discussions by highlighting this issue, encouraging researchers to develop the concept further, and motivating influencers to adopt and normalise sustainable practices in their content production.
References
Anjani, L., Mok, T., Tang, A., Oehlberg, L., & Goh, W. B. (2020). Why do people watch others eat food? An Empirical Study on the Motivations and Practices of Mukbang Viewers. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp. 1-13). https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376567.
Bajdor, P., & Pawełoszek, I. (2020). Data mining approach in evaluation of sustainable entrepreneurship. Procedia Computer Science, 176, 2725-2735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2020.09.284.
Bonsignore, A. (2023). It's Not Just What You Say, It's How You Say It: Mitigating the Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions with Effective Content. Technical Communication, 70(1), 83-95. https://doi.org/10.55177/tc344445.
Brettmo, A., & Williamsson, J. (2020). The role of ‘influencers’ as drivers of a more sustainable urban freight sector. Sustainability, 12(7), 2850. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072850.
Dhurandhar, E. J., Maki, K. C., Dhurandhar, N. V., Kyle, T. K., Yurkow, S., Hawkins, M. A., ... & Allison, D. B. (2025). Food noise: definition, measurement, and future research directions. Nutrition & diabetes, 15(1), 30. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41387-025-00382-x.
Energia. (2025, August 07). Solar panel cost in Ireland: A 2025 guide. Energia. https://www.energia.ie/about-energia/latest-news/solar-panels-cost.
ePower. (2024, August 01). Solar Power: Maximise ROI and Boost Disposable Income with Home Solar Panels in Ireland. ePower. https://www.epower.ie/news/solar-power-maximise-roi-boost-disposable-income-home-solar-panels-ireland/.
Faye, M. (2019, February 04). The ugly truth about those PR Haul videos you love. Medium. https://medium.com/@hello_57048/the-ugly-truth-about-the-pr-haul-videos-you-love-cab37c7b294e.
Friel, L. H. (2024, December 31). How Much Money Do Podcasters Make? (& How Much Can You?). The Podcast Host. https://www.thepodcasthost.com/monetisation/how-much-do-podcasters-make/.
General Assembly Economic and Social Council. (2024, May 02). Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals Report of the Secretary-General, UN. https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
Hayashi, D., Edwards, C., Emond, J. A., Gilbert-Diamond, D., Butt, M., Rigby, A., & Masterson, T. D. (2023). What is food noise? A conceptual model of food cue reactivity. Nutrients, 15(22), 4809. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15224809.
Jin, J., Zhang, D., & Hao, Y. (2025). Optimizing the environmental value transmission chain of green agricultural products: An evolutionary game analysis with livestream e-commerce. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 207, 111359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2025.111359.
Kaivonen, I., Mesiranta, N., & Närvänen, E. (2024). “I do what I do to drive change”: The social-symbolic work of sustainable fashion influencers. Fashion Theory, 28(1), 85-115. https://doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2024.2327252.
Kingston, C. (2020). Out of a Clear Green Sky: Online dialogues surrounding commercial passenger air travel & sustainability, post-COVID. [Master’s Thesis, OCAD University, Canada].
Kircaburun, K., Balta, S., Emirtekin, E., Tosuntas, Ş. B., Demetrovics, Z., & Griffiths, M. D. (2021). Compensatory usage of the internet: the case of mukbang watching on YouTube. Psychiatry investigation, 18(4), 269. https://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2019.0340.
Kircaburun, K., Harris, A., Calado, F., & Griffiths, M. D. (2021). The psychology of mukbang watching: A scoping review of the academic and non-academic literature. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 19(4), 1190-1213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00211-0.
Kong, S. (2022, April 14). Why China Cracks Down on Mukbang Influencers?. Fair Planet.
https://www.fairplanet.org/story/why-china-cracks-down-on-mukbang-influencers/.
Kunz, J., May, S., & Schmidt, H. J. (2020). Sustainable luxury: Current status and perspectives for future research. Business Research, 13, 541-601. ttps://doi.org/10.1007/s40685-020-00111-3.
Lassen, C. (2010). Environmentalist in business class: An analysis of air travel and environmental attitude. Transport Reviews, 30(6), 733-751. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441641003736556.
Lee, D., & Wan, C. (2023). The impact of mukbang live streaming commerce on consumers’ overconsumption behavior. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 58(2-3), 198-221. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1177/10949968231156104.
Liu, W., Ishak, S. M. M., & Yahaya, M. F. (2025). Sustainable furniture rental that enhances the furniture experience of young migrants: A literature review. Heliyon, 11(2), e41968. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e41968.
Luzak, J. (2024). 3Rs of Sustainable Activism on Social Media: Relatability, Reliability and Redress. Journal of Consumer Policy, 47, 511–532. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-024-09574-x.
Macintosh, A., & Wallace, L. (2009). International aviation emissions to 2025: Can emissions be stabilised without restricting demand?. Energy policy, 37(1), 264-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2008.08.029.
Mawad, J. L. J., & Freiha, S. S. (2024). The Role of Influencers in Shaping the Economic Decisions of Consumers Using the Logistic Regression Approach—Does the Generation Factor Matter?.
Sustainability, 16(21), 2071-1050. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16219546.
Mensah, J. (2019). Sustainable development: Meaning, history, principles, pillars, and implications for human action: Literature review. Cogent social sciences, 5(1), 1653531. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2019.1653531.
Morik, K., Bhaduri, K., & Kargupta, H. (2012). Introduction to data mining for sustainability. Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, 24(2), 311. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10618-011-0239-5.
O'Brien, I. (2024, December 12). TikTok’s annual carbon footprint is likely bigger than Greece’s, study finds. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/dec/12/tiktok-carbon-footprint.
Ocklenburg, S. (2022, October 23). Why Do Some People Enjoy Watching Other People Eat?. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ie/blog/the-asymmetric-brain/202210/why-do-some-people-enjoy-watching-other-people-eat.
Özdilek, Ü. (2024). Sustainable digital rent: a transformative framework for value dynamics in the digital age. Frontiers in Sustainability, 5, 1442311. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2024.1442311.
Qu, L. (2021). Waste on the tip of the tongue: Social eating livestreams (Chibo) in the age of Chinese affluence. Asiascape: Digital Asia, 8(1-2), 43-69. https://doi.org/10.1163/22142312-12340131.
Robertson, M. (2021). Sustainability principles and practice. Routledge.
Sayekti, C., & Butar, F. B. (2024). Sustainable Food Movement: Regulating Food Loss and Waste in Indonesia. Journal of Interdisciplinary Legal Issues, 1(2), 54-79.
Seeds of Hope. (2025, January 21). The Psychology Behind the Popularity of Mukbangs and ASMR Eating Videos. Seeds of Hope. https://www.seedsofhopesupport.com/the-psychology-behind-the-popularity-of-mukbangs-and-asmr-eating-videos/.
Setälä, K., Aarikka-Stenroos, L., Wright, S. J., & Grundström, M. (2025). How stakeholders respond to airline sustainability signaling–a social media analysis. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 30(2), 276-293. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-12-2023-0180.
Shepherd, J. (2025, March 26). 25 Essential TikTok Statistics You Need to Know in 2025. Social Shepherd. https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/tiktok-statistics.
Spezzano, W., & Lusby, C. (2024). Mitigating overtourism in Miami Beach through sustainable destination branding: A tourism discourse analysis of the anti-spring break marketing campaign. In Proceedings of the 21st SIM Conference: Brands and Purpose in a Changing Era.
StreamYard. (2025). How Much Money Do Twitch Streamers Make in 2025?. StreamYard. https://streamyard.com/blog/how-much-do-twitch-streamers-make.
Stüben, J. M., & Cantoni, L. (2024). Sustainability Nudges While Booking a Flight on an OTA Website. In ENTER e-Tourism Conference (pp. 287-298). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-58839-6_31.
Suh, S. (2020). Fashion everydayness as a cultural revolution in social media platforms—Focus on fashion Instagrammers. Sustainability, 12(5), 1979. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051979.
Tidy, J. (2020, August 20). Mukbang: Why is China clamping down on eating influencers?. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53840167.
Uher, J. (2021). Problematic research practices in psychology: Misconceptions about data collection entail serious fallacies in data analysis. Theory & Psychology, 31(3), 411-416. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543211014963.
Verma, S., & Kapoor, D. (2025). Sustainability on the plate: how influencers and social norms transform food choices. British Food Journal, 127(6), 1942–1958. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-11-2024-1202.
Wang J., Shi, Y., and Shi, V. (2024). Should we keep the tradition or follow the trend? The optimal live-streaming e-commerce mode selection in a sustainable and circular supply chain under competition. Annals of Operations Research, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-024-06397-4.
WCED. (1987) Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future, UN. https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/sustainability.
Yalcin, T., Nistor, C., & Pehlivan, E. (2020) Sustainability influencers: Between marketers and educators. Business Forum, 28(1), 1-11.
Zewe, A. (2025, January 17). Explained: Generative AI’s environmental impact. MIT News. https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117.
Zolfani, S. H., Sedaghat, M., Maknoon, R., & Zavadskas, E. K. (2015). Sustainable tourism: a comprehensive literature review on frameworks and applications. Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja, 28(1), 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2014.995895.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Tracy Mae Ildefonso
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially
Anyone using the work must attribute the work to the original creator. The licence allows copying and distribution of the original work but no adaptations or modified versions of the work may be distributed.
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
