Practicum 7 Samantha Eisenberg

For my last post I wanted to wrap up what I've observed and discovered with PETA's organization. The blogs, main website, Twitter and Facebook accounts all serve as a type of online community. People visit these sites and interact with others who share a common interest in helping and saving innocent animals. Extreme activists take it a step farther and post on a daily basis, try to meet new friends through the message boards and change their lifestyles to really practice what they preech by becoming vegan or getting on the streets to take a stand against animal cruelty. Moderately active members (like myself) read the blogs and posts regularly and make an effort to comment on the issues that are presented. I forward emails to my friends and family and respond to PETA's emails when I receive them. I've made an effort to use the PETA toolbar when searching for things on the internet to help raise money for PETA. I check the Facebook and Twitter account regularly for updates on issues that are important to me. It's a very easy site to comment on. There is no discrimination against new members, which can often be found on other sites. PETA's website is so informational that I've learned a lot during this project. It opened my eyes to the abuse animals face on a daily basis and how many serious issues there actually are. Although I am not vegan, PETA has made me want to make changes in what I buy. After reading the suffering animals go through, I don't ever want to purchase products with real fur. I've been trying to skip eating meat for a day or two each week and won't purchase cosmetics that are tested on animals. These might be minor changes, but anything helps. Although I didn't make any connections with other members or get many responses to comments and posts I left, I still felt like I was in a community. I will continue to respond to the emails I get and check back on the site to stay updated on other measures I can take to help stop abuse against animals.