I came across a post on Instagram from a veterinarian, standing with their arms crossed, camera slowly zooming in on their face. There was some text about male dogs having nipples. I don’t remember most of it because I couldn’t help but feel cringe and second hand embarrassment for this person.
Another video was a person staring at the camera, crying. There were multiple shots from a couple of different angles which had me asking myself were they legit crying or was this just an act for engagement?
Is this really what we are doing these days?
I’ve been pretty frustrated with social media the past months. It’s basically an advertisement for every trainer that I follow or don’t follow. Everyone has something to say about what your dog should or shouldn’t do. Lots of alarmist posts solely for the purpose of driving engagement in the hopes that one of those people will turn into a paying customer.
The new tools like “comment for the link to my newest video, course, handout, ebook, etc” is just another way to keep you engaging within the confines of the platform and not doing something like read a book or go for a walk outside.
The most recent round of alarmist posts is about the dangers of fetch. Seems like anyone that wanted to tell you the potential dangers of playing fetch with your dog for whatever reason decided to leave out many of the potential dangers also apply to the alternative activities they suggested. Like flirt poles.
And those that aren’t going crazy over fetch are shaming you for not posting about the Palestine/Israel conflict.
Hey, I’m guilty of something similar when Zak George started to bring attention to The Dog Daddy’s abusive methods. I was very frustrated that other orgs weren’t talking about it. But I no longer believe in the “silence is compliance” way of thinking.
I tried to follow more accounts that seemed to be just people sharing pics and videos of their pets and dogs being dogs. But now those accounts are becoming adverts for whatever company they’ve partnered with.
Hey guess what: your earth rated poop bag holder with a built in poop bag clip still has a squishy and warm bag of shit banging against your hip. It doesn’t compare to my tuff mutt poop bag holder that is actually a smell proof bag and I don’t have a warm squishy bag of crap bouncing off my body as I walk.
These “biodegradable” bags are causing more people to leave the bags of shit in the park or on the trail. What do you think happens to the poop when the bag breaks down? It’s still there along with any disease your dog may have carried.
My feed has become a continuous stream of advertisements. The suggested accounts I’m not interested in continue to come up on my feed no matter how many times I select the “not interested” option.
Most of what I see I forget shortly after. And I’m sure the same happens to most of you even if you don’t believe that’s the case. I do have some noteworthy saved posts but how often do I go back to those? Almost never because honestly I forget they are there. And Instagram makes it very difficult to download those posts without danger of your account being disabled.
A platform to help shorten your attention span and keep your eyes down, shoulders hunched as you lean over your phone, and keep you glued to it really isn’t for my business. It’s not healthy for anyone, either.
Oh – and your social media activism probably isn’t as effective as you’d like to think.
What’s next? I’m not sure. I’m finding some inspiration and motivation from this article titled “the internet used to be fun” and one of my favorite authors Warren Ellis to use this space more instead of social media platforms and not be restricted by their short attention span theater design and walls. Some of the things I have to say don’t fit into a series of photos or short videos where viewing time drops off after about 30 seconds. And, if people care, they’ll come back. If nothing else it’s a creative outlet for me.
Yes – I did share this link through my Instagram feed but I’m currently investigating other ways to get the word out.