Popularity and public perceptions of companion animal content on Instagram

The use of animals in social media as photo props is a concern, as these animals are often anthropomorphised. Anthropomorphism can contribute to negative welfare through a misunderstanding of an animal’s behaviour and needs, leading to inappropriate handling and care. To date, limited research on the portrayal of animals on social media has focused on wild animals. This research has found concerning trends that species were viewed as not threatened and individual animals as tame and easily kept as pets because of their representation in ananthropomorphic setting. To our knowledge, a similar evaluation has not been conducted for companion animal content on social media. This study investigated the photographic portrayal and content of companion animals, both domestic and exotic pets, and their reception on public Instagram accounts. A systematic search of dog (Canis lupus familiaris ), cat (Felis catus ), rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus ), guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), parrot (var. spp.), chinchilla ( Chinchilla lanigera ) and reptile (var. spp.) public accounts was conducted to select pseudorandomized ten of each. Five accounts from each species were chosen for having predominantly anthropomorphised posts, with the other five showing more natural settings and behaviours. A random selection of ten posts from each account was then selected and assessed for their content (anthropomorphic or natural portrayal), popularity (number of likes/comments) and comments. Results found that overall anthropomorphic content was significantly more popular than naturalistic content, as indicated by the number of ‘likes’ on each post, (mean 331.01 and 234.70 ‘likes’, respectively), although there were species-specific differences. In particular, anthropomorphic content was particularly more popular in the case of dog and, concerningly, reptile accounts (mean 411.24 likes for anthropomorphic reptile content versus 201.28 likes for natural reptile content). Comments showed the same trend. Interestingly, there were similar public attitudes towards both anthropomorphic and naturalistic content, with comments being predominantly encouraging. Using animals to promote products was also more popular in anthropomorphised imagery. With exotic pet (i.e. reptiles) ownership on the rise, and knowledge of their needs and behaviour limited, the popularity and lack of awareness anthropomorphised posts are concerning as it increases the potential for undiagnosed stress. This study suggests a need for concern regarding companion animal content on Instagram. Social media organisations must carefully manage the potentially harmful animal imagery associated with anthropomorphism, as it may impact animal welfare and behaviour