People use social media for numerous reasons. For some it’s find out more information. Others use it as a way to connect with friends and family. And others…they just use it to pass the time. Likewise, Zoos use social media for many reasons as well.
The most popular use of social media by zoos (that I’ve seen anyway) is #TakeoverTuesday. Every Tuesday, most zoos will have a Zoo staff member or Zookeeper “take over” their social media for the day. They’ll post pictures and narration of their daily duties, usually focusing on a specific animal or exhibit. This gives us the opportunity to see some behind the scenes animal interactions, and learn about what it takes to work at the zoo and care for the animals.
Takeover Tuesday isn’t the only hash tag commonly used on Zoo social media sites. There’s a high usage of #MondayMood, #FridayFeeling, and #TBT. Zoos will also frequently use hash tags for animal days, such as #Caturday, or national days such as #PolarBearWeek.
Whichever bucket you find yourself in as a user of social media, let me suggest some Zoo twitter accounts worth following as we start 2019.
@CincinnatiZoo – This is by far the top Zoo twitter account I would endorse. This account typically tweets 3-5x per day, with varying levels of participation depending on what’s going on. Pictures are plentiful in their posts, as they’ll make full use of hash tags. Front and center of a majority of their posts is Fiona, the premature-born baby hippo who is now over 1,000 pounds. The zoo will also communicate out information about animals being on/off exhibit (primarily Fiona), special zoo events, or Zoo expansion projects on this account as well.
@ColumbusZoo – This account is much more focused on events and new information. There were many tweets about their Zoo lights exhibits over the past several weeks, and updates on new baby animals are a frequent topic as well. While they do throw in the occasional hash tag, that’s not really their thing as they keep their updates to timely, bigger announcements.
@JBZOOGR – This account, for the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan, operates more like an instagram account. They feature a lot of close-up photos of their animals, usually with a clever tagline. Announcements will still come through here, but you’re more likely to pick up smiles through their clever and frequent photos.
Honorable Mention Follow accounts include: @ZOOATL (Atlanta Zoo), @sandiegozoo, @toledozoo, @blankparkzoo (Des Moines, IA), and @brookfield_zoo.
We hope you find these accounts as entertaining to follow as we do. Follow us on twitter @zoowithus as we frequently retweet from the 70+ zoo accounts that we follow!
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