If you have experience running a bird-related discussion group on social media, I'd like to hear from you. I'm wondering what kinds of content/posts tend to get the most engagement and traction from an audience comprised of casual bird lovers. (And I ask this because I think I tend to lose people a bit when I get too deep into the subject of birds!)
I've been running a bird-related online group, comprised of people in my local community. It's challenging trying to reach people and inspire a love for, and interest in, birds. Part of the challenge may be regional and cultural differences with regard to interest in birds (compared to if I, say, started a group about cats or dogs). I think I also need to back up and think about what most interests more casual bird lovers too however. I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can. Any advice is appreciated!
My experience with a bird-related discussion group on social media is with birdbanderdude_nm on Instagram. I'm a beginning birder. His prose often goes above my head, but I read it anyway in an attempt to learn. Each post has a picture of a bird he banded, which is what typically attracts my attention in my Insta feed. I think for me, he is the only resource posting who is local that I've found so far. As a new birder, I'm hungry for local information. I think where the gaps are for me are:
- Knowledge about local birding areas outside the main ones that everyone knows.
- What are the good months and times of day to go and what can you expect to see at those times?
- Someone local who can answer my questions about birds I see that I'm not sure about. Like a birding buddy.
- Local information on how to create and maintain yard habitats for birds.
I like adding to my life list, but I know lots of people who just want to watch birds, not ID them. I would think help with feeders to attract different types of birds, gardening ideas (more universal than birds perhaps?) and great photos of birds.
My two cents on a Sunday evening. Good luck, and if you happen to be in the Southwest, let me know! I'll subscribe! :)
Thank you Heather, for giving me some fresh angles to think about! Those types of discussions are exactly what's missing in my group, and perhaps that's what members are expecting (as I've been running a group on Nextdoor and, having a Psychology background, tended to want to discuss behavior, communication, and understanding among birds). I'm also considering that the case may be that people who use Nextdoor are there to gather information about more general local events and happenings rather than interest in specialized topics/groups. However, I'm about to take my discussions to Instagram as well. I'm in Northern California, so darn! But thank you for such an insightful response. I'll hope to run into and chat with you again here then! :)