Social Media Contexts Moderate Perceptions of Animals
The rapid rise of social media in the past decade represents a new space where animals are represented in human society, and this may influence human perceptions, for example driving desire for exotic pet keeping. In this study, 211 participants (49% female) between the ages of 18 to 44 were recruit...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Animals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/5/845 |
| _version_ | 1827716920395169792 |
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| author | Elizabeth Riddle Jill R. D. MacKay |
| author_facet | Elizabeth Riddle Jill R. D. MacKay |
| author_sort | Elizabeth Riddle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The rapid rise of social media in the past decade represents a new space where animals are represented in human society, and this may influence human perceptions, for example driving desire for exotic pet keeping. In this study, 211 participants (49% female) between the ages of 18 to 44 were recruited to an online survey where they viewed mock-up pages from a social media site. All participants saw the same image of a primate but were randomly assigned to a pro exotic pet keeping or anti exotic pet keeping narrative condition. When participants were presented with the anti narrative they perceived the animal to be more stressed (χ<sup>2</sup> = 13.99, <i>p</i> < 0.001). In free text comments, participants expressed reservations in the face of a narrative they disagreed with in free text comments. Overall, this study found evidence to suggest that people moderate their discussions on human-animal interactions based on the social network they are in, but these relationships are complex and require further research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:50:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-546f310b366b42eaa342ded0a140dbec |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:50:31Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-546f310b366b42eaa342ded0a140dbec2023-11-20T00:25:32ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152020-05-0110584510.3390/ani10050845Social Media Contexts Moderate Perceptions of AnimalsElizabeth Riddle0Jill R. D. MacKay1Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Scotland EH25 9RG, UKRoyal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Scotland EH25 9RG, UKThe rapid rise of social media in the past decade represents a new space where animals are represented in human society, and this may influence human perceptions, for example driving desire for exotic pet keeping. In this study, 211 participants (49% female) between the ages of 18 to 44 were recruited to an online survey where they viewed mock-up pages from a social media site. All participants saw the same image of a primate but were randomly assigned to a pro exotic pet keeping or anti exotic pet keeping narrative condition. When participants were presented with the anti narrative they perceived the animal to be more stressed (χ<sup>2</sup> = 13.99, <i>p</i> < 0.001). In free text comments, participants expressed reservations in the face of a narrative they disagreed with in free text comments. Overall, this study found evidence to suggest that people moderate their discussions on human-animal interactions based on the social network they are in, but these relationships are complex and require further research.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/5/845digital culturescaptive primatesexotic petsdigital human-animal interactions |
| spellingShingle | Elizabeth Riddle Jill R. D. MacKay Social Media Contexts Moderate Perceptions of Animals Animals digital cultures captive primates exotic pets digital human-animal interactions |
| title | Social Media Contexts Moderate Perceptions of Animals |
| title_full | Social Media Contexts Moderate Perceptions of Animals |
| title_fullStr | Social Media Contexts Moderate Perceptions of Animals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social Media Contexts Moderate Perceptions of Animals |
| title_short | Social Media Contexts Moderate Perceptions of Animals |
| title_sort | social media contexts moderate perceptions of animals |
| topic | digital cultures captive primates exotic pets digital human-animal interactions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/5/845 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT elizabethriddle socialmediacontextsmoderateperceptionsofanimals AT jillrdmackay socialmediacontextsmoderateperceptionsofanimals |