For a class on digital research methods, I decided to focus on how Animal Rescues can use social media to benefit their efforts. More specifically, I wanted to focus on photo posts on Facebook.

What kinds of posts does that include?

• Donation Requests – Photos of sick animals that may need to recover high medical costs
• “Happy Tails” – Post adoption follow ups of pets in their new homes
• Available Animals – Pets that are awaiting adoption
• Events – Current or upcoming

Why?

I see fellow rescue volunteers post on Facebook asking for others to help. I do it myself from time to time. However, I don’t know if I should post as often as they do.

When someone sees a post for help, maybe they decide to toss some donation money our way. If they see a second, third, fourth, and so on, will they continue to donate, or will we see diminishing returns on what we’re getting?

I’m worried about overshare; I don’t want to post every single desperate call for help and end up with friends who are desensitized or even actively annoyed by me.

What I’m hoping to somewhat accomplish with my school assignment is gather a picture of what photo posts might generate more user engagement, and ultimately more adoptions/donations. On the other side, I want to learn more about the different organizations and aspects of rescue to determine why those groups might want to share what they do.

Finding a balance of what to share, when to share, and how often to share can help rescues find the perfect balance that will optimize their outreach.

Recommended: Using Facebook to Help Needy Pets? You Might be Doing it Wrong.