Twitter Update

An update on my Twitter account: tweets, re-tweets, and follows.

My Twitter account has been expanding since I first created it. I have followed more great researchers, scientists, and organizations. This has contributed to some quality content on my feed. For example, I got a post about isopods, which I re-tweeted, informing me about their amazing abilities. Giant isopods have been able to adapt their diet so that if necessary, they would be able to go a year without eating. Reading all the animal research and issue tweets on my feed really helped me realize how beneficial of a platform Twitter is for spreading information and awareness.

Of the many good accounts I have followed on Twitter, some of my favorite and most helpful accounts are: @animalresearch, @AMCELL, and @WhySharksMatter. These accounts are good about posting content frequently and keeping us updated. The first account, @animalresearch, tweets and re-tweets about interesting discoveries from animal research experiments and helps explain the roles animals play in these research experiments. The second account, @AMCELL, is the account of Alan McElligott: an Associate Professor in animal behavior and welfare. McElligott is good about tweeting and re-tweeting multiple times a day, spreading awareness on animal related issues and sharing interesting facts. Finally, @WhySharksMatter is the account of animal researcher Dr. David Shiffman. He frequently tweets about sharks and other marine animals, but also has a variety of informational and animal-related issue tweets.

When tweeting on my Twitter account I focused on tweeting articles and infographics relating to the topics we have covered on animal communication, friendship, intelligence, and similarities between animals and humans. Although I kept these topics in mind when re-tweeting, most of my re-tweets focused on spreading awareness on animal-related issues. I am big on animal advocacy and think Twitter is a great platform to spread awareness on issues. My favorite tweet from this week was the one I posted on wolves with an article from Species Unite: "Why is the U.S. Slaughtering Wolves?". I wanted to spread awareness on what is happening to these wolves, which is why I tweeted the article.

Aside from my Twitter account, this week I also replied to other blogs from my peers. The three blogs I commented on were from Bella Souza, Emily Santo, and Yael Gutierrez. In Bella's blog I read about her perspective on animals and found that the two of us shared very similar thoughts. For example, we both agree that animals must be able to sense and feel emotion because of how our own dogs interact with us. In Emily's blog I read about her thoughts on the articles we read for class. She found the differences in how dogs and cats respond to training interesting. Emily related this article back to her dogs and cat, which I could relate to myself. I have a dog and my sister has a cat so I can definitely see the differences in the two species when it comes to training, as Emily pointed out in her blog. Finally, in Yael's blog I read about his experiences with Covid-19 and how he is coping. Yael wrote about the importance of maintaining a positive attitude during these hard times. In order to do so, he walks around UCSC and appreciates the nature. I could really relate to this because I also go to school at UCSC and the nature we have here is indescribable. Walking around and observing the countless deer, turkey, and trees is a great way to maintain a optimistic mindset!

I hope you were able to learn a little bit more about my Twitter account and what I have been tweeting and re-tweeting about! If you get a chance, check out some of the Twitter accounts I talked about.

All the best,

Pallavi Rajeev