Have you ever browsed online forums or comment sections within parrot communities? These can be via Facebook groups, sites like Reddit, or more traditional message boards. Or perhaps, if you’re like me, your social media feed is filled with parrot videos and photos on YouTube, TikTok, etc. People love to come together from all around the world and share their birds and seek or give information and advice. Most of the time this is a positive thing. However, sometimes these spaces can foster negative experiences or feelings of guilt and shame when we feel judged by others. We can also experience this negativity if we repeatedly see birds that we feel aren’t being treated right and this can really take a toll on our mental health. I’d like to examine some ways that we can help foster a positive, helpful environment in online spaces for those that want to participate in them while also avoiding mental fatigue and anxiety. 

Provide and Seek Accurate Information

The internet has given us the ability to learn about anything we can imagine. That’s something that generations before us didn't have access to. As most know, however, the internet isn't always a reliable source of information. From dangerous medical advice to outdated care information, misinformation is all over the internet via social media and poorly researched articles optimized in order to reach the top of search results. The American Veterinary Medical Association put out an article about how social media has affected pet owners and the veterinary field where they stated that “Pet owners increasingly rely on social media for animal health information, where distinguishing between factual and nonfactual content is challenging.” (Moran & Knesl, 2025)

Someone without a proper education and experience in animal care can gain a lot of influence and reach large audiences. Many times, people will trust their advice because they present themselves as experts. However, when it comes to social media, sometimes these people are hobbyists and entertainers whose primary goal is to work the algorithm to get engagement on their content rather than to properly educate. It's also common to come across articles about parrot care that are repeating old information that has been proven false, harmful, or is no longer considered the standard of care. This doesn’t even take into account the recent rise in AI, where articles, videos, and even books are being presented to audiences full of dangerous, incorrect advice about parrot care. A person doesn't need to be a PhD in order to give accurate information, but they should be able to show that their advice comes from reputable sources. That's where we all come in!

We can help filter out misinformation and fill the internet with accurate, productive information if we know what to look for. When you read an article like this one, go to the bottom and look for resources and citations. Sometimes an article will be written that is mostly opinion, and that’s fine as long as it is obvious that is what you’re reading. But if someone is giving medical or care advice, they should be providing resources to back up their claims. If they don’t, that’s a red flag. That’s where learning how to look up trusted information will really come in handy. Things like Google Scholar offer everyone a way to search through scholarly literature. Finding a few trusted individuals that are proven experts in their field and returning to their websites, books, and videos is always a good thing as well. I frequently return to the same trusted sources when I’m seeking information or researching a topic. 

When you give advice to pet owners, make sure that you’re not just repeating old or bad advice that you fell victim to. We don’t ever want to repeat the cycle of misinformation by spreading it further. Use trusted sources before you advise others. If you’re on the receiving end, analyze what you’re being told. Even if the person seems credible and has a lot of followers on social media, make sure they are giving you good advice by looking to trusted resources to verify it. Ask yourself what their motivations might be. Are they presenting information as a way to better the community and spread their expertise, or are they trying to sell you something or get you to feed their engagement, etc.? 

Avoid Judgement and Shame to Those Seeking Advice

People on the internet can be cruel. I’ve seen it more times than I can count in comment sections and on forums. Someone will come in and ask for advice and one or two people will tear them apart. It always makes me sad when this happens, because for one, that person is probably feeling bad about the interaction. But more than anything, they are much less likely to ask for help in the future. In that situation, the birds are the ones that suffer. It is normal human nature to avoid negative feelings and confrontation, and so that person is now much less likely to expose themselves to future criticism. 

I completely understand feeling frustrated when you come across a question like “Is it OK for me to keep letting my bird and cat interact” or the ever so common “why is my bird screaming so much?” while their bird is clearly distressed in a small, dirty cage. But keep in mind, this person is seeking information. They’re trying to learn and improve their care. So many people never even seek advice and just keep doing the same thing. Even if we feel like someone should know better, we must be patient when we give advice, or at the very least, not act harshly. The ultimate goal is to help the bird. To help the bird, you have to help the human. If you push the human away or make them feel discouraged from asking for advice in the future, it’s the bird that will suffer. So, be patient, give productive advice, and encourage them to keep asking questions. No matter how frustrated you might rightly be. It’s also very likely that person could be a child. The goal is to get them to embrace seeking out information.

Control Exposure to Negative and Distressing Content

I want to preface this section by saying I do not condone turning a blind eye to the issues parrots are facing due to things like neglect and environmental struggles. I believe that everyone should be aware of such things and the things that they can do to make a positive difference. However, for many people, regularly seeing videos, photos, and reading stories about birds that are injured, abused, and facing other challenges can take a toll on their mental health. This is something I have personally struggled with in the past. We often don’t realize how much time we spend each day scrolling and viewing content on social media. The kind of things we see, especially if it is repetitive, can start to affect our mood and the way we think in ways we might not realize. It’s especially difficult because social media apps are designed to keep us engaged as much as possible. 

I’ll give you a personal example, because I think many of you can relate to it. My career is in studying birds, the environment, and the challenges they face due to human activities. Because I felt the need to be informed, I also consumed a lot of social media content on the topics. But, I noticed that I was starting to experience some real feelings of sadness and hopelessness when I didn’t control how much and what type of content I consumed. I had to start placing filters on what I was seeing so that I wasn’t constantly seeing distressing topics about birds and climate change. At first, I felt a sense of guilt at doing this. I felt I had an obligation to be entirely informed as much as possible. However, I soon realized that watching these videos and reading those stories as much as I was wasn’t helping me make a difference. In fact, it was making it harder for me to focus by how it was affecting my mood. So, I placed time limits on when I consumed these types of examples and would avoid them altogether if I felt like I needed a mental break. I instead started reading articles from those making a difference like Irene Pepperberg, Jane Goodall, and others. I also listened to lectures and read studies about the issues in order to maintain an understanding without constantly seeing individual, distressing examples. I do still take the time to read individual examples here and there, but in a much healthier way. Doing this has helped me think more clearly and be more productive - which is an overall net positive in how I am contributing to the issues I care about. 

For some people, seeing distressing content can make them feel sad and hopeless. But for others, they might feel angry or anxious. These are all normal things to feel. It means that they care about birds and want a better life for them. However, it’s very easy to be consumed by distressing emotions when we feed our minds with negativity. So, what can you do to create healthy social media habits when it comes to the birds you love? Ask yourself the following:

• What kind of content are you consuming?
• How often are you consuming it?
• How do you feel after you do so? 

If you want to make changes to what you see, hear, and read online that bothers you, you can start with hiding or filtering some of the distressing stuff that pops up. This can take a few steps in some applications. Sometimes, you can hide specific accounts and topics (or even block them) but it depends on the platform. The important thing is to be aware of how you are being affected. After you do this, you can then make changes that will help such as removing those topics completely or limiting how much time you spend on them. 

When people are in a healthy state of mind they are more likely to contribute to the spaces they care about in a positive way. We shouldn't ignore the issues. We should be aware and educated if we plan to make a difference. So, find ways to stay informed in ways that are balanced and productive. 

Resources: 

Moran, R. E., & Knesl, O. (2025). How can the veterinary profession tackle social media misinformation? Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 263(6), 802–808. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.24.10.0665

Sánchez-Fernández, R., & Jiménez-Castillo, D. (2021). How social media influencers affect behavioural intentions towards recommended brands: The role of emotional attachment and information value. Journal of Marketing Management, 37(11–12), 1123–1147. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257x.2020.1866648