Social Media as Data on the Recreational Value of Coastal Areas

Managers and policymakers know that tourism and recreation generate significant economic value in coastal areas. Understanding how these revenues and the people associated with them might change in the future is a critical component for evaluating different management options. Where traditional “willingness to pay” surveys fall short, social media data scraped from blogs, twitter, and photo-sharing services can provide one avenue of unique insight into the perceived value of specific places.