Should you create a social media account for a pet?

UAE's most influential voice their opinions

I love animals and I have a marine tank, love birds, two cats (who live below my building) and dog named Goofy in Dubai. I also make it a point to feed stray cats that live in a farm nearby. In addition to my food blogging and social media channels, I also have an Instagram account for my fur child Goofy. He is an English Cocker Spaniel who was born in Dubai in 2015. He is now two and a half years old and joined our family when he was only two months old.
When he came into our lives, my family and I absolutely fell in love with him. He is the kindest creature and is always very gentle and calm. We spend a lot of time with him, taking him to the park every weekend to that he can run freely, play, swim and socialise with his friends. As we consider Goofy part
of the family, one day, we decided to make him an account
on Instagram.
I believe that while a lot of people shy away from posting too much about themselves online, making a social media account for your pet can create a space that is joyful and engaging.
Creating a social media account for your pet is also a great idea for a number of other reasons: it's a lot of fun, you can make the whole world appreciate your beloved fur child and even make him or her famous if you do it right. For us, one of the main factors behind the social media account is the love we have for our pet and the joy we get by posting about him. So, although I'm very busy handling my food blog as well as social media for it, I enjoy managing Goofy's Instagram page. It's just a joy to capture these moments with him online.
- Ralph Joudet
is the food blogger behind www.cookingwithralph.com. You can follow him on his Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Zomato @cookingwithralph and his dog
@goofythecockerspaniel


I've been living in the UAE for about three years now, after marrying Hamza, who I actually met on Instagram and got into a long-distance relationship with (our love story was even covered by WKND earlier!). Both my husband and I are real animal lovers, rescuing street animals whenever we can and caring for those in critical conditions. We even took in a sick turtle once (it's now well and three years old) and adopted a giant African land snail.
Sometime after that, I began my journey as a blogger, and it's only in the last few years that things started blooming professionally. Because I had more experience in creating content for social media and handling accounts, I decided to start an Instagram account for one of my cats, Charlie. He is a Turkish Angora who was rescued by us from Abu Dhabi when he was quite sick. We personally think he has a 'royal' personality which is why his Instagram account has a pretty sarcastic-yet-funny tone - as if he has been writing all the posts himself. The account is actually pretty recent and yet got a couple of hundred followers very quickly.
But there is a downside - dedication. Even though it is not hard to create content for a pet account because all their pictures are super cute, taking pictures constantly can be difficult when you have to balance it with daily life and a full-time job. People usually don't see the effort that goes behind a social media account, but it does require a lot of dedication and time, and growing an Instagram account can take years of daily effort. Managing Charlie's account was difficult since I found myself forgetting to post on his Instagram - sometimes for an entire week - or not interacting properly with followers which made the posts less engaging.
Which is why Chalie's account is more of a hobby today. I don't stress about the number of followers and don't get lost between the two accounts.
- Sindy Mohammed
Is a UAE influencer who blogs under www.newoldgirl.com. You can keep up with her on Instagram @newoldgirl and her cat Charlie at @magnificentcatcharlie