PETA making a difference through Twitter
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have a twitter, and it is nearly impossible for these users to escape seeing the tweets, retweets, and favorites of various accounts that take a stand against a public issue. One of these is the very popular PETA account.
PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is the largest animal rights group in the world. It has over three million members and supporters, and claims over half a million followers on twitter. PETA is focused on helping animals on factory farms, in the clothing industry, in research laboratories, and in the entertainment industry.
One of PETA’s methods for raising awareness is through their twitter account, which, by its photos alone, can emotionally affect almost any human being. The account is loaded with very graphic photos and videos of injured animals and animals being abused. PETA likes to try to make it’s viewers imagine what it would be like if the humans were the ones being kept in cages, worn as fashion on the runway, beaten and abused, or killed just for a sport.
Aside from the dark and depressing tweets, PETA also provides opportunities for its followers to help make a difference. It provides tweets with links for people to donate, and encourages it’s followers to retweet their tweets to help raise awareness. It also provides links to websites that show people how to live a vegan lifestyle.
The audience for PETA is members of twitter, mostly mature young adults and adults. Pre-teens are too young to donate money, go to protests, or lead an animal friendly, vegan life. The account uses the rhetorical strategy of pathos and tugs on the audience’s heartstrings. This strategy is very effective in getting people to want to make a difference, but it is almost a “dirty” way to get people to do it. Graphic evidence of animals suffering will spark an emotion in all people, but PETA does not back up this evidence with facts or relate to the writer’s credibility and character. This organization is certainly making a difference, but may be recruiting supporters in an unethical way by taking advantage of the grief caused by the distressing images posted on twitter.
Views All Time
Views Today