Meet Cobra the snake. You may not know who he is, but 241,729 other people do and they are following him on Twitter. Remember Knut, probably the world’s most famous polar bear, his Facebook fanclub has grown to 24,344, despite his premature death.

Cobra, Knut and other rescued mammals probably have more Facebook friends and Twitter followers than most of us. People use these pages to post condolences, pictures, stories, and anything else they wish to share about these (mostly) furry creatures. What do all their pages have in common? They are a great outlet for environmental and ecological issues.

Some argue their online presence on Twitter and Facebook is a great way to increase awareness and participation on conversation issues in a more accessible and interactive way for people than simply publishing articles.

“Olive” the Oiled Otter and “Penelope” the Seal both update their pages with progress from the program/center who rescued them as well as additional information about their situation and how it is affecting the planet as a whole. This is a great example in which social media can be tied into environmental and ecological concerns.

Yes, one may argue that sites such as Twitter and Facebook use up a significant amount of energy but considering their impressive outreach, should they not still be exploited as means to raise awareness on important issues and encourage people to get involved in saving the only planet we have? Energy well spent, I say.

We’re good. Daniel is visitng friends, running, reading and shopping. Today we are volunteering together at a local food bank. Dad has poison Ivy:) I’ve been swimming regularly. I’ve been reading up on non-native invasive species and we’re working on getting rid of them in the yard. Fun!! How was the drum concert? Are you doing any drumming? Got to go exercise. Have a great day!!

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