How lockdown lessons on social media can lead to positive PR for hunts

With an uptake in people learning to utilise modern technology methods to communicate throughout lockdown, the Countryside Alliance is encouraging hunt supporters to harness these new skills by embracing social media to help promote hunting to a wider audience.

The number of hunts and hunt supporters using Facebook and Instagram in particular, has increased considerably following a dedicated campaign over the past year by the Countryside Alliance, in conjunction with the Hunting Office. However, combined with an increase in the reliance upon web-based methods of communication - for video calls and virtual meetings - during the Covid-19 crisis, the Alliance believes this is the perfect opportunity for those who had previously expressed reservations about social media to take the next step and get involved.

"With the widespread increase in the use of web-based platforms throughout lockdown and a range of people learning to adapt to greater online engagement, now is the perfect opportunity to remind hunt supporters how modern systems can be advantageous by offering them a chance to not only help to promote hunting themselves, but to benefit from seeing news, videos and other hunting-related information directly on their own newsfeeds," explained Polly Portwin, Head of Hunting at the Countryside Alliance.

"There is no excuse for those who were previously unable to operate their smart phones, tablets or PCs effectively prior to lockdown but are now fully-fledged experts on them," she continued. "We therefore hope that with this better level of understanding of technology, there will be fewer reservations about how modern communication methods – including social media - can be beneficial to hunting's cause."

Social media administrators of hunting-related pages have been working hard to engage with their followers using social media throughout the spring and summer in order to keep spirits up and to help raise hunt funds, with a wonderful array of hunting-related posts filling the newsfeeds of hunt supporters.

The Countryside Alliance have continued to offer guidance to hunts and their supporters about the safe use of social media following the regional PR & Social Media seminars they organised last year, and they were recently involved in a successful webinar organised by the Hunting Office which covered the subject of the various online platforms. Further advice about social media and its' use is available from the Countryside Alliance with dates for further seminars to be confirmed.

The PR & Social Media webinar, held on Tuesday 18th August, was conducted by Alice Bowden, director of the Hunting Office, with the Alliance represented by Polly Portwin who provided an overview on how social media works and what benefits it can offer to hunting through its wider use.

The Hunting Office, which is the executive arm of the governing bodies for hunting with hounds in the UK, has organised a number of other training webinars on a variety of hunting-related matters throughout August to replace the training courses that were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.