The popularity of social networking sites has increased considerably over the last 15 years with sites such as Facebook (FB) now having over one billion daily users (Facebook, 2018). The largest age group to use FB is 25–34 years of age, followed by those 35–44 years old (Statista, 2018a). Males and females use FB in nearly equivalent numbers; FB users comprise 52% women and 48% men (Statista, 2018b). In addition to an individual FB user profile, users can join FB groups where people can engage in written discussion, ‘like’ posts, and post pictures and videos related to topics of common interest (Holzner, 2008).
A FB page, whether for an individual or a business, is in many ways a miniature personal website for a company or an individual. A FB page can be ‘liked’ by another FB user which means that posts on the page will show up on their newsfeed. A FB group, on the other hand, is a forum for collaboration and communication between like-minded individuals. Groups can be public, closed (anybody can find the group, but only members can see the posts), or secret (the group is unable to be found unless added by a current member). Groups can be more personal; they often become an online community and can easily facilitate member communication via chat, wall posts, and email (Hancockcreatv, 2018).
Several studies have been conducted in relation to the role of FB pages and/or groups and human health, ranging from general health, such as weight loss/maintaining weight (Newman et al, 2011), to more serious health conditions, such as diabetes (Zhang et al, 2013; Pounds et al, 2018) and cancer (Bender et al, 2011). These discussions and posts not only come from those who suffer from health issues, they also come from fundraisers, caregivers, and those who want to raise health awareness and provide support. These FB groups have been found to provide a range of emotional support including encouragement and motivation, as well as advice, health information and a sense of community (Bender et al, 2011; Zhang et al, 2013; Hammond, 2018; Pounds et al, 2018).
Despite reported benefits of FB use, there are also a number of potential disadvantages, such as the recent surge of issues surrounding privacy (De Vynck, 2018), veterinarian-client privacy breaches (Weijs et al, 2013), and the provision of inaccurate or misleading information (Sharma et al, 2017). For example, Gage-Bouchard et al (2017) reviewed content of over 15 000 FB posts on 18 different human cancer-related FB pages and found that approximately 20% of posts were deemed medically or scientifically inaccurate. Online pet health information suffers from this same problem, with owners often misinterpreting ambiguous or false online information (Oxley et al, 2017).
A recent study of UK internet users found that both the internet and social media are popular avenues to obtain pet health information. Kogan et al (2018) conducted a survey of 571 pet owners in the UK and asked them to report their main source of pet health information. The three most common answers were internet websites (78.6%), veterinarians (77.2%) and internet social media/forums (56.0%).
Given the popularity of pet rabbits in the UK (approximately 0.9 million (Pet Food Mabufacturers' Association (PFMA), 2018)), this current study was designed to gain more information about rabbit owners specifically. While there is little research that has been conducted on pet owners in general and their use of the internet for pet health information (e.g. Kogan et al, 2009; Kogan et al, 2014), there have been even fewer studies conducted on how rabbit owners use the internet or social media in regards to rabbit health information. Obtaining accurate rabbit health information is important for numerous reasons, not least of which is because, as an exotic species, they are prone to specific conditions such as pododermatitis (sore hocks) (Mancinelli et al, 2014) and dental disease (Mullan and Main, 2006).
Recently, Mayer et al (2017) surveyed 959 rabbit owners through a non-profit rabbit organisation in the United States and found the three most common sources of rabbit educational information were their own non-profit rabbit organisation, followed by veterinarians, and then internet sources. Even more recently, a survey of 202 UK rabbit owners found that due to convenience, ease of access and the quantity of available information, the internet was the second most commonly stated source of rabbit-related health information (Dalley et al, 2018). To better understand rabbit owners' use of the internet for rabbit health information, it is important to make a distinction between the broad term of the ‘internet’ and specific online sources such as animal welfare organisation webpages or online social media (e.g. FB and Twitter), as the provision and quality of the information may be potentially different. Although it is becoming increasingly evident that social media has a role to play in educating pet owners about pet health, there has been limited investigation into the use of social media in relation to pet health information. As highlighted by Kogan et al (2018), more research and information is needed in relation to the use of social media and its impact on pet health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary investigation into the use of FB rabbit-related groups and how these groups influence rabbit owners in relation to rabbit health information.
Method
A survey was developed consisting of three sections including: i) general FB and FB rabbit group use (e.g. frequency of use and reason for joining FB rabbit groups); ii) receiving of rabbit health information in rabbit-related FB groups; and iii) nine statements relating to pet rabbit health, online trustworthiness, and comparison of information to other sources.
The survey was piloted on five people with varying rabbit-related knowledge, including: a UK-registered veterinary nurse; a PhD student studying rabbit behaviour and welfare, and three UK rabbit owners. Feedback provided as a result of the pilot was incorporated into the final survey. The final survey was made available via an online survey software (Qualtrics, Provo, UT). The survey explained the purpose of the research, offered principal investigator contact information, and informed participants that the survey had been approved by the Colorado State University Institutional Review Board (No. 302-18H).
The survey was distributed for a 2 week period (13–27th of February, 2018) by posting the survey link, with a short recruitment message, on rabbit-related FB groups. Results were exported in Microsoft excel, and due to the small sample size descriptive statistics are provided in this paper. Open ended questions were coded manually.
Results
Inclusion criteria and respondent information
A total of 402 responses were received, but respondents who did not live in the UK (10), or did not have a FB page (38), or did not belong to a rabbit-related FB group (15), were eliminated. Furthermore, respondents that answered fewer than 15 questions were removed (35) due to insufficient completion.
This resulted in a total of 304 respondents who complied with stated inclusion criteria (e.g. over 18 years of age, all owned a rabbit(s), lived in the UK, had a FB page and belong to a rabbit-related FB group). The largest proportion of the rabbit owners owned two rabbits (see Table 1). The majority of respondents were female (93.8%; 285); 14 (4.6%) respondents stated they were male, and five (1.6%) did not state their gender. The most common ages were 18–29, 30–39 and 40–49 (see Table 1).
| Respondent age group | n | % |
| 18–29 | 88 | 28.9 |
| 30–39 | 78 | 25.7 |
| 40–49 | 72 | 23.7 |
| 50–59 | 53 | 17.4 |
| 60–>60 | 9 | 3.0 |
| Prefer not to say | 4 | 1.3 |
| Total | 304 | 100 |
| How many rabbits currently owned | n | % |
| One | 44 | 14.5 |
| Two | 144 | 47.4 |
| Three | 31 | 10.2 |
| Four | 32 | 10.5 |
| Five | 8 | 2.6 |
| Six | 14 | 4.6 |
| Seven | 5 | 1.6 |
| More than seven | 26 | 8.6 |
| Total | 304 | 100 |
The majority of respondents (82.6%; 251) stated ‘No’ to ‘Are you employed in an animal or veterinary related job?’ Whereas, 17.4% (53) respondents stated that in addition to owning rabbits they were employed in an animal or veterinary-related job.
General Facebook and rabbit group usage
Respondents were asked how long they spend on FB in an average week with the most common answers including ‘More than 18 hours per week’ (25.7%) and ‘More than 2 hours but less than 6 hours per week’ (23.0%) (Table 2). The respondents who reported they were members of only one rabbit-related FB group, was 11.5% (35); 21.4% (65) reported belonging to two groups, 19.1% (58) three groups, 14.8% (45) four groups, 7.6% (23) five groups and 25.6% (78) more than five groups. The amount of time respondents spent on FB groups varied with the highest percentage (33.2%) stating between 2 and 6 hours per week (Table 2).
| Hours spent on Facebook in an average week | n | % |
| Less than 1 hour per week | 3 | 1.0 |
| More than 1 hour but less than 2 hours per week | 14 | 4.6 |
| More than 2 hours but less than 6 hours per week | 70 | 23.0 |
| More than 6 hours but less than 10 hours per week | 58 | 19.1 |
| More than 10 hours but less than 14 hours per week | 49 | 16.1 |
| More than 14 hours but less than 18 hours per week | 32 | 10.5 |
| More than 18 hours per week | 78 | 25.7 |
| Total | 304 | 100 |
| Time spent on rabbit Facebook group sites in an average week | n | % |
| Less than 1 hour per week | 54 | 17.8 |
| More than 1 hour but less than 2 hours per week | 59 | 19.4 |
| More than 2 hours but less than 6 hours per week | 101 | 33.2 |
| More than 6 hours but less than 10 hours per week | 47 | 15.5 |
| More than 10 hours but less than 14 hours per week | 18 | 5.9 |
| More than 14 hours but less than 18 hours per week | 14 | 4.6 |
| More than 18 hours per week | 11 | 3.6 |
| Total | 304 | 100 |
Reason for joining rabbit-related Facebook group(s)
The most common reasons respondents noted for joining rabbit-related FB groups included the ability to keep up to date with rabbit-related information (84.9%; 258), to learn more about rabbits (78%; 237), and to discuss topics about rabbits with like-minded people (71.1%; 216) (see Table 3). Just over half of respondents (52.3%; 159) joined rabbit related Facebook groups to ‘seek advice about the health of my rabbits’.
| Reason (multiple choice) | n | % |
|---|---|---|
| To keep up to date about rabbit-related information | 258 | 84.9 |
| To learn more about rabbits | 237 | 78.0 |
| To discuss topics about rabbits with like-minded people | 216 | 71.1 |
| To seek advice about health of my rabbits | 159 | 52.3 |
| To seek advice about management/care of my rabbits | 162 | 53.3 |
| To receive up to date product information relating to rabbits | 150 | 49.3 |
| Just out of general interest | 170 | 55.9 |
| Just for fun | 150 | 49.3 |
| Because many of my friends/colleagues are in these groups | 21 | 6.9 |
| Other (e.g. to promote rabbit welfare, to share advice, to find specific information on enrichment) | 32 | 10.5 |
Rabbit Facebook groups and health information
The question: ‘Have you ever received rabbit health advice on rabbit-related Facebook groups?’ was answered ‘No’ by 38.8% (118) and ‘Yes’ by 61.2% (186). Those who stated yes were asked to describe one example of a rabbit-related health problem they have asked about. One hundred and seventy six respondents provided examples, the most common problems related to ‘Digestion/diet/faecal/gas/urine/bladder’ and ‘Gastrointestinal (GI) stasis’ (Table 4). When asked if they give advice about rabbit-related health on rabbit-related FB groups, 56.9% (173) of respondents stated ‘Yes’ and 43.1% (131) stated ‘No’.
| Category | Example response | n | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digestion/diet/faecal/gas/urine/bladder | ‘Male suddenly leaving drops of very dark urine’ | 32 | 18.2 |
| Gastrointestinal (GI) stasis | ‘I thought one of my rabbits was suffering from GI stasis’ | 28 | 15.9 |
| Spaying/neutering | ‘Very worried about my rabbit, following spay, out of hours. Advised to go to vet which I did’ | 13 | 7.4 |
| Vaccinations/worming | ‘VHD2 vaccine’ | 10 | 5.7 |
| Bonding | ‘How to bond rabbits’ | 9 | 5.1 |
| Dental | ‘Rabbit losing top front teeth’ | 7 | 4.0 |
| Eyes | ‘My one rabbit's third eyelid was covering eye asked if anyone had seen anything like this’ | 7 | 4.0 |
| Pre/Post vet appointment/surgery advice | ‘Getting a rabbit to eat again post surgery’ | 8 | 4.5 |
| Skin/fur | ‘Bald front paws’ | 6 | 3.4 |
| Lump/abscess/tumour | ‘We asked if anyone knew what two bumps on one of my rabbits was’ | 5 | 2.8 |
| Toenail clipping/growth/injury | ‘An upturned toe nail growing straight up due to neglect and I wanted to know if it could be retrained to grow normally and if anyone has successfully done so’ | 5 | 2.8 |
| Fleas/mites | ‘Mites’ | 4 | 2.3 |
| Head tilt/ear infection | ‘Head tilt’ | 4 | 2.3 |
| Parasites/worms | ‘Treatment for coccidiosis’ | 3 | 1.7 |
| Grooming/cleaning | ‘How best to clean my rabbit's ears’ | 3 | 1.7 |
| Other (e.g. two or less in category)* | e.g. Garden plants: ‘Advice on garden plants—if safe or not’ | 32 | 18.2 |
| Total | 176 | 100 |
Main source of rabbit health information
Respondents were asked: ‘What is your main source of rabbit health information?’. The most common source was a veterinarian, followed by FB groups (Table 5).
| Source of rabbit health information | n | % |
|---|---|---|
| Veterinarian | 142 | 46.7 |
| Facebook groups | 52 | 17.1 |
| Internet search engines | 42 | 13.8 |
| Specific website | 27 | 8.9 |
| RWAF/RWAF magazine (‘Rabbiting on’) | 8 | 2.6 |
| Books | 7 | 2.3 |
| Friend/family/colleague | 6 | 2.0 |
| Other* | 20 | 6.6 |
| Total | 304 | 100 |
Rabbit health statements
Not all questions were answered by all respondents, so the total response for each question are included. Participants were asked to indicate their agreement level to nine rabbit health statements (Table 6). When asked if they view FB groups as a trustworthy source of rabbit health information, 41.3% (125/303) agreed. Yet, 73% (216/296) stated that they only trust certain members of the groups as a source of rabbit-related information. Specific qualifications (e.g. veterinary nurse) appear to play a role in perceived trustworthiness for some, with 45.2% (133/294) of respondents reporting only trusting qualified members.
| Strongly agree n (%) | Agree n (%) | Neutral n (%) | Disagree n (%) | Strongly disagree n (%) | Total n (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘In general, Facebook groups are a trustworthy source of rabbit health information’ | 19 (6.3) | 106 (35.0) | 113 (37.3) | 52 (17.2) | 13 (4.3) | 303 |
| ‘I only trust certain members of the rabbit groups that know about rabbit health information’ | 76 (25.7) | 140 (47.3) | 57 (19.3) | 14 (4.7) | 9 (3.0) | 296 |
| ‘I only trust members of rabbit groups who are qualified (e.g. vet nurse)’ | 46 (15.6) | 87 (29.6) | 87 (29.6) | 61 (20.7) | 13 (4.4) | 294 |
| ‘Advice from rabbit Facebook groups has influenced my decisions regarding veterinary care’ | 27 (9.2) | 91 (31.1) | 66 (22.5) | 67 (22.9) | 42 (14.3) | 293 |
| ‘Rabbit health information on Facebook groups is generally reliable’ | 7 (2.3) | 110 (36.2) | 126 (41.4) | 49 (16.1) | 12 (3.9) | 304 |
| ‘I have found the use of photographs in Facebook groups useful to understand/recognise rabbit health’ | 47 (15.8) | 164 (55.2) | 61 (20.5) | 19 (6.4) | 6 (2.0) | 297 |
| ‘I feel more comfortable asking questions in a rabbit Facebook groups than I do with a veterinarian or veterinary nurse’ | 12 (4.0) | 39 (13.0) | 65 (21.6) | 115 (38.2) | 70 (23.3) | 301 |
| ‘I feel like my rabbit Facebook contacts know at least as much about rabbits as my veterinarian or veterinary nurse’ | 19 (6.3) | 60 (19.8) | 81 (26.7) | 98 (32.3) | 45 (14.9) | 303 |
| ‘I feel like my rabbit Facebook contacts know more about rabbits than my veterinarian or veterinary nurse’ | 10 (3.3) | 39 (12.9) | 59 (19.5) | 128 (42.2) | 67 (22.1) | 303 |
When asked if advice they have obtained from a FB group has influenced their decisions regarding veterinary care, 40.3% (118/293) agreed. Photographs appeared to play an important role in describing and/or recognising rabbit health as 71% (211/297) either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement ‘I have found the use of photographs in Facebook groups useful to understand/recognise rabbit health’.
When asked to compare FB group members' knowledge of rabbit health information with that of veterinarians and veterinary nurses, the majority reported feeling FB group members are not as knowledgeable. Furthermore, 61.5% (185/301) stated they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement ‘I feel more comfortable asking questions in a rabbit Facebook groups than I do with a veterinarian or veterinary nurse’, although 17% (51/301) did strongly agree or agree with the statement (see Table 6 for a full breakdown).
Discussion
This study was designed to investigate the use of FB rabbit groups among UK rabbit owners. One recent study of UK pet owners found that internet social media forums are one of the most common sources of pet health information (utilised by 56% of respondents), and 39.5% of these respondents reported feeling these sources are trustworthy (Kogan et al, 2018). It is critical for veterinarians working with pet owners to to better understand these online resources, and in particular, the growing number of FB group pages. Because of the popularity of rabbits, and many unique factors in their health and husbandry, this study focused exclusively on rabbit owners. Future studies should explore dog and cat owners to determine if they demonstrate similar behaviours and opinions regarding FB groups.
Results from this study suggest that rabbit owners utilise rabbit group pages, with nearly two-thirds spending more than 2 hours a week on these pages. They appear to use these group pages for a multitude of reasons, the most common being to keep up to date on rabbit information, to learn more about rabbits, and the opportunity to discuss rabbits with likeminded people. These opportunities to obtain information, as well as share with likeminded others, seem to be two of the more common reasons people engage in FB groups (e.g. Greene et al, 2011; Moreno et al, 2011; Lerman et al, 2017). It also appears that joining such groups might enlarge their social circle, since in the current study only 7% stated that they joined because they have friends or colleagues in these groups. Instead, nearly half said they joined for fun or just out of general interest. It would appear that in addition to information, these users get enjoyment in being part of these online communities. This can also be seen by the number of groups to which owners belong; only 11.5% belong to one group; the majority belong to more than two groups and over 25% belong to more than five groups.
Although these respondents appear to use their rabbit FB groups as a source for rabbit health information, it is clear that FB group pages do not replace their veterinarian. Although FB groups were listed as the second most common source of rabbit health information, 46.7% rated their veterinarian as their primary source, compared with 17.1% who listed FB groups as their primary source. Along this same line, although many felt that their FB page groups are a trustworthy and reliable source of information, they do not compare with their veterinarian. Pet owners still overwhelmingly feel more comfortable asking their veterinarian health questions rather than their FB group, and feel strongly that their veterinarian is more knowledgeable. Therefore, it is suggested that instead of being viewed as a potential threat or competition, FB group pages could play an important partnering role in animal health. Perhaps veterinary professionals could become more active in such groups, improving the quality of information shared as well as potentially creating new client opportunities. It would also help veterinarians, and those in the veterinary field, to know the current top concerns of rabbit owners and perhaps proactively address these concerns with their clients. There are numerous benefits that veterinarians might garner by becoming more comfortable and active with FB pet health group pages.
The most common reported health advice that was sought through a FB group was related to the gastrointestinal tract, whether that be digestion/diet/faecal/gas/urine/bladder or GI statis (see Table 4). This result was consistent with previous research, for example, Mayer et al (2017) found that the most common reported previous health issue was gastrointestinal disease (47.7% of 530 US respondents). Similarly, Rooney et al (2014) also found that digestive problems were stated to be the most commonly occurring health concern over the past 1 year period by UK rabbit owners. Further research would be useful to ascertain the advice sought and/or provided in relation to the commonly reported health issues.
There are several limitations to the current study. The sample size is small and might not be representative of other rabbit owners. It will also be important to replicate this study with dog and cat owners to determine if they share similar views and behaviours. Follow up studies might include content analysis of group discussions to evaluate the degree to which shared information corresponds with current veterinary health literature or veterinary evidence/advice.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this preliminary study suggests that a significant number of rabbit owners frequently use and trust Facebook groups for a range of rabbit-related information including health information. Yet, despite FB groups' popularity among rabbit owners, veterinarians remain owners' first choice for trustworthy and reliable rabbit health information. Given these results, it would behove veterinarians to at least acknowledge the use of FB group pages as a potential resource used by many of their clients, ultimately helping to improve the veterinarian-client-patient relationship and animal health.