Have shelter reform and no-kill advocacy groups lost their way on Facebook?
I don't normally think of no-kill leader Nathan Winograd as a social media critic, but in a blog post yesterday, he called out a lot of no-kill groups on Facebook for pandering for "likes" and "shares" instead of focusing on their mission:
I see a trend on the Facebook pages of some No Kill educational organizations which show them moving away from substance just at the time it is needed most. Instead of substantive posts, they are posting photos, videos, and stories of animals designed not to empower, but to amuse as these tend to get large numbers of “likes.” Non-shelter No Kill Facebook pages, if they are to authentically serve the cause they claim to support, should be primarily educational tools, posting material intended to elevate the discussion about shelter killing in the U.S. beyond clichés about pet overpopulation and the importance of spay/neuter. They need to be followed by a dialogue on those posts to answer questions, clarify confusion, respond to comments, and to provide assistance to activists as needed.
This requires effort, and it can often lead to friction, but, in the end, it is a necessary precursor to change.
This loss of focus isn't a problem unique to no-kill and shelter reform Facebook pages. The animal welfare movement in general suffers from hopeless message drift, as you can see from ten minutes looking at the long list of rules, requirements, restrictions, and regulations appended to half the adoption listings on Petfinder -- so much so that it's sometimes hard to find the only thing that should be there -- the pet's personal story.
It's in their press releases and story pitches, too, where instead of presenting a single compelling piece of information they layer it with redundant quotes from their president and a quick plug for their upcoming adoption fair and don't forget to spay and neuter your pets and don't breed and buy while shelter dogs die... it's exhausting just reading their signature files!
So it's no wonder this leaked over to their Facebook pages. But when it did, it got amplified in a very disturbing way by two forces.
One, of course, is Facebook itself, which requires you to dance like a music box ballerina whenever they start the music. If most of what's on your page isn't content that drives tons of likes, comments, and shares, Facebook will essentially punish you by showing fewer and fewer of your posts to your own followers by wielding its super-sekrit EdgeRank algorithm.
Since photo posts and cute memes and pandering for engagement ("Like if you love puppies, share if you love kittens, comment if you love both!" "Can you name a dog breed without the letter "E" in it?") result in lots of the elusive likes, shares, and comments, pages advocating for a cause become addicted to the easy boost in EdgeRank and thus, number of fans who view a page.
Then you post something serious about an upcoming meeting at city hall about changes to the holding period at your local animal control, and not only does no one engage with it, but hardly anyone sees it. Talk about negative reinforcement.
But it's not all Facebook's fault. We're guilty, too, of wanting to be liked, wanting to be popular, wanting to have the biggest fan count, wanting to see the comment count tick into double and then triple digits on every post.
Even without the EdgeRank sword hanging over our heads, it's likely a lot of us would still be sweating and shaking with eagerness to be the first one of our network to share today's super-viral Grumpy Cat meme.
I have two things to say: First, we're not here to be liked. We're here to end the use of lethal animal control practices and reform how we shelter animals.
Second, you can actually serve Facebook's algorithmic delusions of grandeur, keep your EdgeRank high so your followers will see what you post, and stay focused on your mission, all at the same time. This is how:
Use Facebook Insights -- their free, built-in analytics program -- to determine what times of day and what days of the week your posts do best. Learn more here.
Use Facebook's scheduler -- also built-in and free -- to schedule your posts for those times, leaving at least a couple of hours, if not 3, between posts. (Too-frequent posting is a guaranteed ticket to Facebook limbo. Watch your post views and see!) Learn more here.
Use relevant photos and memes. You can actually spread your message just fine with memes and photos, and reap the benefit of all that EdgeRank juicy goodness. Just make sure your viral content is related to your mission, not random images of teh coot kittehs there for no purpose whatsoever other than to pander for engagement.
Engage! When page admins, in the name of the page or in their own names, respond to comments, solicit responses, and in general behave... dare I say it? ... socially, engagement on a post will go higher, and thus, more of your followers will see it.
Ask for help! Posts in which a "share" is requested will get more shares than those without a request. I don't mean manipulative share-whoring like this, or this; I mean authentically having a reason for wanting your followers to share your content, telling them what it is, and then asking them to do it. You'll be amazed.
Be interesting. People with something interesting to say, particularly those who say it well, will always have a following. Be that person.
Be sticky. Learn from what communications professionals, advertisers, psychology researchers, and scientists have figured out about what makes messages "sticky" -- in other words, what makes people notice what you're saying, remember it, and act on it.
Stay on message. Why does your organization exist? Nearly all your posts should be mission-focused, with the additional challenge that you need to find compelling and "sticky" ways of conveying that mission. And of course it's fine to post something silly on Fridays or whenever you sense things need a change of tone, but even the silly, fun, heartwarming things you post can be relevant to your mission. There are thousands of memes out there about pet adoption or the human-animal bond. You can do better than just another adorbs puppy with a tilted head.
Note that this advice is for reform and advocacy groups. If your page is about pet adoption or building community support for your foster, volunteer, and fundraising efforts, you'll want to use a different set of tactics, and yes, "cute" will play a much larger role.
But if you're here to change the world for the millions of pets who are needlessly killed every year, you can and must use the tools at your disposal, including Facebook, effectively and strategically, not randomly and reactively.
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