Behind the Pup-ularity Curtain: Understanding the Motivations, Challenges, and Work Performed in Creating and Managing Pet Influencer Accounts

Title of the Paper

Behind the Pup-ularity Curtain: Understanding the Motivations, Challenges, and Work Performed in Creating and Managing Pet Influencer Accounts

Paper Information

• Thematic Area: Human-Animal Interaction, Social Media Information Management
• Keywords: Social Media, Pet Influencers, Instagram, Human-Animal Relationships, Identity Management, Digital Labor, Online Communities, Digital Consumption

Research Background and Issues

• Issues and Challenges:
  • Pet accounts on Instagram, as a digital phenomenon, bring joy and satisfaction to pet owners but also pose challenges such as external criticism and the pressure of managing pets' online identities.
  • There is a knowledge gap in academic research regarding the motivations, strategies, and challenges of managing pet influencer accounts.
• Significance:
  • Pet accounts have evolved into a form of collaborative work between owners and pets, resembling a "third shift of labor." Exploring the motivations and strategies behind this unique form of identity management has significant practical implications.
• Research Motivation and Related Work:
  • A literature review reveals that previous studies have primarily focused on pet marketing content and consumer behavior, lacking in-depth exploration of the non-commercial motivations or multifaceted goals of pet influencer accounts.
  • Related research highlights social media as a tool for identity management, particularly in comparison to the phenomenon of "sharenting," reflecting both commonalities and unique aspects of online identity management.

Solutions

• Methodology:
  • Conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 Instagram pet influencer account owners to explore their approaches and challenges in managing their pets' online identities.
  • Designed and implemented content collection procedures, including data gathering based on specific hashtags and coding interview content using qualitative analysis tools.
• Innovations:
  • This study is the first to systematically explore the multifaceted goals of pet influencer account owners, including personal, philanthropic, and commercial purposes.
  • Differentiated specific practices in managing pets' online identities, such as content creation from the pet's perspective and strategic editing.
• Implementation Steps and Techniques:
  • Conducted extensive account data collection by filtering relevant pet accounts through Instagram hashtags.
  • Used thematic analysis to deeply analyze interview content and extract key insights on motivations, strategies, and challenges.
  • Explored directions for technical optimization, such as visual layout assistance tools, language review, and generation algorithms.

Research Findings

• Specific Findings:
  • The study found that pet account owners have multifaceted goals, such as documenting memories, spreading knowledge, and promoting brands.
  • The construction of pet identities involves staged content creation, including pre-shoot setup and post-production editing. Personal content often adopts a natural presentation, while commercial content is meticulously edited to enhance appeal and sophistication.
  • Pet influencer accounts exist not only within the "economy of cuteness," but their owners also actively promote philanthropy and challenge societal biases, such as advocating for the adoption of senior or special-needs pets.
• Comparative Advantages:
  • Identified the dual nature of labor in managing pet accounts: personal enjoyment and community engagement motivate this honorary labor, but excessive involvement may lead to the burdens of "third shift labor."
  • Provided design insights for creating equitable social media platforms that enhance authentic pet identity-based content creation while mitigating issues caused by negative feedback and overwork.
• Experimental or Evaluation Results:
  • Interviews revealed that pet influencer account owners optimize digital management processes by establishing collaborative relationships with their pets and employing specific strategies to counter critical feedback.
  • The study emphasized the potential of notification tools, such as visual quality detection, negative feedback filtering, and content editing optimization.
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  • Limitations include a focus on cat and dog accounts and the restriction to the Instagram platform, excluding dynamics of pet accounts for other species or on other social media platforms.
  • Future research could delve deeper into the non-profit goals of pet influencers, particularly how to design platform features that support philanthropic efforts, as well as further explore the pet influencer ecosystems on other platforms (e.g., YouTube or TikTok).