Making people and ideas findable
How can social media help Indiana animals?
How can people who are passionate about animal welfare share their experience and knowledge with others who might not know much about the importance of treating animals with dignity, empathy and compassion?
Tens of thousands of people are interested in or actively working to improve animal welfare in Indiana. Many more have pets, so how can we best reach people who love animals, but know little about issues such as feral cats, dog fighting, spaying/neutering, and animal welfare in general?
I had a brief but thought-provoking discussion with someone highly active in animal welfare in Indianapolis. She knows I'm heavily involved in new media, and am using web-based tools in addition to traditional media outlets to get the word out about animal welfare issues and adoptable animals.
However, she brought up a great point: in our city (and others), many of the people who really need to hear our message - that animals DO deserve respect as living creatures - simply might not have access to this information. They might not have computers, might not have reliable transportation to places like schools or libraries, might simply have more important things to worry about, like keeping food on the table for their family. If these people have an unaltered pit bull chained to a tree in their back yard but no computer, how can we reach them?
The answer seems to be getting out into the community, using reliable and trustworthy peers to reach out to these people. But how can social media facilitate that? Perhaps animal welfare advocates can use media to reach respected individuals in typically downtrodden areas - people like church pastors, community organizers, respected volunteers, etc.
What are your thoughts? How can tech-savvy animal lovers use their skills and knowledge to reach out to those who may've never used a computer?
Tens of thousands of people are interested in or actively working to improve animal welfare in Indiana. Many more have pets, so how can we best reach people who love animals, but know little about issues such as feral cats, dog fighting, spaying/neutering, and animal welfare in general?
I had a brief but thought-provoking discussion with someone highly active in animal welfare in Indianapolis. She knows I'm heavily involved in new media, and am using web-based tools in addition to traditional media outlets to get the word out about animal welfare issues and adoptable animals.
However, she brought up a great point: in our city (and others), many of the people who really need to hear our message - that animals DO deserve respect as living creatures - simply might not have access to this information. They might not have computers, might not have reliable transportation to places like schools or libraries, might simply have more important things to worry about, like keeping food on the table for their family. If these people have an unaltered pit bull chained to a tree in their back yard but no computer, how can we reach them?
The answer seems to be getting out into the community, using reliable and trustworthy peers to reach out to these people. But how can social media facilitate that? Perhaps animal welfare advocates can use media to reach respected individuals in typically downtrodden areas - people like church pastors, community organizers, respected volunteers, etc.
What are your thoughts? How can tech-savvy animal lovers use their skills and knowledge to reach out to those who may've never used a computer?
Tags: adoption, advocacy, animals, cats, dogs, empathy, neglect, pets, sharing, technology
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Medley Byers on -
This is a really interesting question. I have seen a lot happening communication-wise with social networking in animal welfare. I personally use Indypaws.com, yahoo groups, yahoo answers, dogster.com, myspace, and google groups to receive and share info on all kinds of animal welfare topics like rescue transports, rescuing vs. buying, responsible breeding, puppy mills, feral cats, sp/eutering... I also receive several regular e-mails from organizations like Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Alley Cat Allies, HSUS, ASPCA, etc. When you are accessible online, it's pretty easy get and stay informed. But what about those who aren't online?
One way to use the social networking is to raise money for public awareness campaigns. An example of this is petshoppuppies.org, where you can donate to help fund the billboard campaign educating about puppy mills. They are placed on high-traffic roads like 465 near the airport.
We can also use social media to influence people in the public eye to set a good example. Best Friends set up an online petition to encourage the Obamas to adopt, rather than purchase, a dog for their daughters.
It is also a great way to notify people of events that will draw public attention, like the Rally to Defend the Dogs last July, as well as the other puppy mill protests held monthly.
Sometimes, though, we just need to get out from behind the computer and DO something. I take brochures around and leave them at the grocery store, library, post office and pet supply store. Public bulletin boards are fair game. Churches, doctors' offices, anywhere people are waiting around or passing through are good places. Opening your mouth helps. Talk to people, in a non-confrontational way, about the topics. Clothing and accessories - t-shirts, bumper stickers, tote bags, jewelry, etc. can all carry a message. It may provoke someone to ask a question, which gives you the opportunity to educate. We need to have a presence at community events. If you have an animal at an event, people will be drawn over to interact with that animal, and that will give you a chance to educate them.
Then there are the guerrilla tactics (as I like to think of them). Some are fairly harmless, like putting puppy mill brochures in dog breed books at the library, or ripping down "puppies for sale" fliers. This can go further, into actually kidnapping abused dogs, but I'm not condoning that. There are websites like www.dogsdeservebetter.com that give people ideas of how to approach their neighbors who might not be treating their pets right.
And, last resort, legal action (calling animal control).
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Permalink Reply by Tristan Schmid on -
Thanks for your thoughts and ideas, Medley! Good stuff. The petshoppuppies.org example is an especially good one - they used their site to pay for a mass marketing campaign seen by thousands of eyes every day.
It's fascinating to see how online endeavors can have immediate impact on the real world, and vice versa. And though they're EVERYWHERE, public bulletin boards, flyers, and posters still do catch people's eyes.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Herndon on -
Interesting post. We're in the planning stages with one of our clients to do some of these very things (community involvement along with social media presence) to help address issues as well as engage people together around the Pet friendly community.I agree with the principle of your statements, thanks.
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1. Please use your real name (first and last) when you sign up, or we cannot open your account
2. Please do not use logos or commercial images for your profile photo
3. Events should be posted in the events calendar
4. You can post pretty much anything you want on your own personal page (self promotion, etc), and you can change the style of your personal profile page to reflect your corporate identification if you so choose.
5. Please keep all comments civil and polite. It's OK to feel strongly about a subject, and it's OK to be critical of ideas, but please refrain from personal attacks of any kind.
If you witness or experience any issues, please contact admin@smallerindiana.com and we will look into the matter.
6. Smaller Indiana is supported by its members, and by corporate sponsors. If you're interested in learning more about sponsorship, please call Pat Coyle at 317 332 7878.
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