Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Researchin' PETA

Before visiting the PETA website for the first time I had a fair bit of knowledge of what the organization is about. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is a pro-animal rights organization that encourages people all over the world to respect the livelihoods of animals in captivity for research, for animals used for food, animals used for clothing, etc. The group uses public demonstrations as well as a large number of online resources to encourage the groups growth and to spread information on the issues with which animal rights activists are concerned.

The homepage of the website features articles, videos, news about celebrities and their opinions about animal treatment, links to information on vegan recipes and clothing options, as well as a donate button and details about membership. The navigation bar at the top divides the largest areas of the website and includes a tab for information on PETA's position on animal rights issues, how to take action, how to live animal product free, and - probably most importantly for this assignment - a tab for making connections with  the friends and followers of PETA via social network sites like Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, etc. This tab, in addition to the respective links for the aforementioned satellite websites, provides information on how users might interact with the other online PETA sources. The 'Connect' page is especially convenient for me as a researcher (or as a person interested in the group) because I don't have to go hunt all over the Internet to find ways to share my "like" or "interest" in the group.

The way that PETA is using web space is pretty impressive. The website itself is fairly encyclopedic in the information is has to present and covers a fairly wide variety of topics that individual users might find interesting. Beyond the peta.org website, a live Twitter feed keeps fans updated on current issues and successful projects. The Tumblr page has a pretty long list of similar content with pictures and videos. PETA's Facebook page has nearly 1.4 million likes.

The producers of PETA's online media seem to really be trying to get people to become fans of their group by showing funny cartoons, videos, games, and other interactive media while simultaneously hosting a large database of information about animal treatment. People who already support animal rights are going to feel right at home when they find the PETA website and it's community. A Twitter follower or a new Facebook like is going to greatly increase the sites exposure to new people. PETA is definitely taking advantage of social media to support their organization.


Does it matter when people "like" PETA on Facebook? Is the organization and it's followers gaining anything from social media? I'd say that Leo Mirani's position on this subject is a little more accurate. PETA uses social media to increase conversation on a topic that a lot of people are already concerned with, and a lot of other people would be concerned with if they only had access to the information that PETA provides. In this way they are successful.