'Petworking' - The New Breed of Social Networking Sites

chillibreeze writer — Swati Ramnath

Johnny jumps out of bed at six in the morning, explores the kitchen for some yummy food to binge on, and then logs into his favorite social networking site to have a chat with his new friend, Sandra.

Johnny: Hey Sandra what are you up to? Guess what? Mommy is going out and I am going to have a great time munching on the slippers in the guest room.
Sandra: I am doing great Johnny. It is my birthday today and Daddy got me a new soft toy to play with. It looks a lot like me.

The conversation continues for about an hour until there is nothing left to talk about. Johnny and Sandra are like any other social networking site addicts, but there is one major difference -they belong to the new brigade of networking site fans, the ones with furs and paws. After having taken the human race by storm, social networking sites are now targeting the pet population by creating some interesting and exclusive pet social networking sites also termed as “Petworking” sites. Pet lovers can’t stop raving about these unique sites where they get to talk endlessly about how adorable their pets are. The internet is flooded with pet social networking sites. Given below are some of the popular petworking sites you can use:

All Pets
People n Pets (http://peoplenpets.com/)
Petizens (http://www.petizens.com/)

Dogs
Dogster (http://www.dogster.com/ )
myDogspace (http://www.mydogspace.com/)

Cats
Catster(http://www.catster.com/)
myCatspace (http://www.mycatspace.com/)

Birds
Bird social network (http://www.bird-networks.com/)

Horses
My Horse and Me (http://www.myhorseandme.com/beta/)

If you don’t want to go for an exclusive pet networking site, you can even opt for the Facebook applications like Dogbook and Catbook meant for our canine and feline companions.
The networking sites of our four-legged companions are very similar to our social networking sites. The pet owners maintain a profile of their pet displaying its bio-data, interests, and favorite activities. They load the photos and videos of their pet to share it with those in their pet’s network of friends.

The mummies and daddies of socially active canines and felines update their “woofs” and “meows” from time to time as status messages. They also help their pets make new friends by regularly posting on the walls of their pet pals. In this manner, pet owners get to connect with other pet owners worldwide.

Support and discussion
One good thing about ‘petworking’ sites is that all those who join love animals and appreciate the pet owner’s public display of affection for their pet. As a pet owner, you are heard when you talk about your pet in these sites. Talking endlessly about your pet on a general networking site would annoy or disinterest those who are not so fond of animals. Apart from having the liberty to blabber non-stop about how cute or playful your pet is, you also get to learn a lot about pet parenting and pet care on these sites.

Looking for help?
Having some issues with your pet? Reach out to other pet owners in your network and you will have some useful advice and information pouring into your inbox which can help you in a big way. By networking with the pet owners from your area, you can form offline groups and communities of pet-lovers. You get to make new friends and expand your social circle by connecting with people who share your passion for pets.

Adoption and shelter
Social networking sites can also support the cause of animal welfare and adoption of homeless animals. A US based pet adoption web service Adopt-a-Pet.com (http://www.adoptapet.com/) encourages the users of social networking sites to help in the adoption of homeless pets. The website puts up profiles of several dogs, cats and other adoptable animals in various animal shelters. You can browse and choose the pet you want to help and by using the share tool you can share the profile of that particular animal with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.

Through word of mouth, the homeless animals get easily adopted. Though the idea of pet networking sites may seem a little silly and trivial to some of us, it has been getting lots of thumbs up from pet lovers and some tail-wagging response from pets. So, the next time you come across a wall post that says “Why can’t I catch hold of my tail?” don’t be surprised. It might be your neighborhood pooch yapping online.

Sources –
http://www.examiner.com/x-1657-Tampa-Pet-Services-Examiner~y2009m4d18-The-top-20-social-networking-sites-for-pet-lovers
http://info1.a-d-o-p-t.com/a613955-adopt-a-pet-com-launches-social-petworking-campaign-to.cfm
http://onlineveterinarytechnicianschools.com/2010/25-awesome-social-networking-sites-for-animal-lovers/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bow-wow-Social-petworking/articleshow/5704896.cms
http://www.webadvantage.net/webadblog/social-petworking-social-networks-arent-just-for-humans-2313

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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in August, 2010. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Swati is a B.E in Biotechnology. Her passion for writing prompted her to pursue writing as a full-time career.She has been contributing articles for the website Viewspaper on topics ranging from business, travel,health, science to career and fiction. Being fond of pets, she also works as a freelance writer for the pet magazine Dogs & Pups.

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