A Step-by-Step Guide to Being an Animal Activist Online
- It’s quick and easy: In just a few clicks, you can add your voice to as many of our actions as you want and share them with the world.
- It’s where you’ll get people’s attention: Now more than ever, people get their information online. One video shared on Facebook can make your friends go vegan overnight.
- It doesn’t have to cost a penny: Everything you need is already available online for free, including action alerts, e-mail alerts, videos, and blog posts. You can be an online activist sitting on the sofa at home or during your lunch break at work.
1. Add your name to PETA’s action alerts.
Our action alerts include petitions and e-mails to government bodies and CEOs of companies. Add your name to all of them to speak up for animals and to help us gather evidence of public support for our campaigns – which can be essential to achieving a victory, especially when we’re invited to meetings or debates.
Top tip: Download the PETA iPhone app to support the latest campaigns, and keep up to date by signing up to receive e-mail updates.
2. Champion animal rights across your social media channels.
Share PETA’s action alerts on your Facebook and Twitter accounts. If you lead by example by actively speaking out for animals, other people will be much more likely to get involved, too.
Share our videos, use our GIFs in your Instagram stories on social media, on WhatsApp, or via e-mail using the buttons under the headline. Add our Instagram posts to your stories by clicking the re-share button below our images – see the screenshots below!
3. Comment on companies’ social media.
Many brands cultivate a social media presence, so there are plenty of opportunities to post comments highlighting actions they can take to help animals. For example, you could call on a company to stop selling leather, fur, wool, or other cruelly obtained materials by describing the abuse that animals face for fashion. It takes less than a minute to post a comment, and the more people who do so, the more pressure we put on companies to end cruelty to animals. You can also send them direct messages, tweet their CEOs, and leave negative reviews of cruelly produced items on their websites.
Top tip: Leaving one comment is great, but posting each day is even better! Set yourself a goal of leaving a comment every single day for the next 30 days to make sure businesses hear your voice.
4. Seize every opportunity to speak up for animals online.
If you come across animal abuse online, always speak up. For example, if you see someone posting a photo in which they’re riding an elephant, leave a polite comment explaining why such rides are cruel. If you spot a celebrity on Instagram wearing fur, post a comment asking them to switch to animal-friendly materials. And if you encounter someone using a phrase like “kill two birds with one stone”, reply by explaining how language like this perpetuates violence against animals by reinforcing speciesism, and point them towards animal-friendly alternatives.
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Top tip: Always use polite and friendly language, and see our “Dos and Don’ts” below.
5. Follow PETA on social media.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up to date on our work and find out what you can do to help animals. Being part of an online community is highly rewarding, and you can see how you’ve helped us achieve victories or reach the next step of a campaign.
Top tip: Tell your friends why you’re following PETA, and invite them to join you.
6. Create a Facebook group or a WhatsApp or Instagram group chat to mobilise local people.
We often run campaigns on issues that affect people in local communities across the UK – for example, when farmers submit planning applications to the council asking for permission to expand an existing farm or build a new one. If you are taking action against animal exploitation in your area and want to encourage others to speak out, too, create a Facebook group or a WhatsApp or Instagram group chat for local activists in which you post action alert links and updates. It’s a great way to get people involved in campaigns, and you’ll have effectively created a local network of animal activists.
Top tip: The most important thing is for activists to learn about and engage with issues together. Don’t overwhelm people in the group by posting excessively.
- Check out our activist resources.
- Support multiple campaigns to help animals in just 30 seconds by signing our rapid actions. We have several more of these types of actions – look out for them in our action centre.
- Find out how you can encourage friends and family to go vegan, from sharing eye-opening books to showing them insightful documentaries.
- Join PETA’s Action Team to hear about urgent alerts, protests, and events relevant to your area.
- Take part in other offline activism by searching for local groups and meet-ups on Facebook to find other compassionate people near you.