Exploring representations of, and attitudes towards, snakes in online media: an ethnozoological approach
type: CreativeWork
description: Ethnozoological assessments of human cultural associations with different animal groups are useful for conservation planning and wildlife public education programs. Vicarious learning can impact human attentional biases and fear acquisition associated with snakes; the portrayals of snakes across different media sources might impact the potential for human hostility and conservation resistance or acceptance. I investigated the portrayals of snakes across online media content to discuss the potential impact on human acceptance of snake conservation. I assessed media content specific to two spheres of cultural importance: 1) formal scientific publications available online, and 2) informal social media content; using this comparison structure, I assessed whether snakes were notably framed as a cultural symbol or biological entity with conservation potential. To identify unique portrayals of snakes posted online, I compared snake-specific representation to those associated with bears, a mammalian group that, while sometimes threatening to humans, shares different cultural and perceptual associations with humans compared to snakes. I investigated scientific literature using both a comprehensive scoping review and mixed-methods qualitative content analysis. I also assessed animal-specific Facebook content using a mixed-methods qualitative content analysis that was thickened with a quantitative assessment of content engagement metrics. By conducting an exploratory topical and qualitative document analysis of sampled online media, I identified snake-specific representations and thematic patterns so as to synthesize a profile of snake-specific human attitudes for informing conservation strategists. I found cultural influence across formal scientific and informal non-scientific boundaries via the observed differences in themes between animal groups. Across the scientific literature, the conservation emphasis was similar for both groups, but the relationship between conservatio…
abstract: Ethnozoological assessments of human cultural associations with different animal groups are useful for conservation planning and wildlife public education programs. Vicarious learning can impact human attentional biases and fear acquisition associated with snakes; the portrayals of snakes across different media sources might impact the potential for human hostility and conservation resistance or acceptance. I investigated the portrayals of snakes across online media content to discuss the potential impact on human acceptance of snake conservation. I assessed media content specific to two spheres of cultural importance: 1) formal scientific publications available online, and 2) informal social media content; using this comparison structure, I assessed whether snakes were notably framed as a cultural symbol or biological entity with conservation potential. To identify unique portrayals of snakes posted online, I compared snake-specific representation to those associated with bears, a mammalian group that, while sometimes threatening to humans, shares different cultural and perceptual associations with humans compared to snakes. I investigated scientific literature using both a comprehensive scoping review and mixed-methods qualitative content analysis. I also assessed animal-specific Facebook content using a mixed-methods qualitative content analysis that was thickened with a quantitative assessment of content engagement metrics. By conducting an exploratory topical and qualitative document analysis of sampled online media, I identified snake-specific representations and thematic patterns so as to synthesize a profile of snake-specific human attitudes for informing conservation strategists. I found cultural influence across formal scientific and informal non-scientific boundaries via the observed differences in themes between animal groups. Across the scientific literature, the conservation emphasis was similar for both groups, but the relationship between conservatio…
author: Laur, William J.
language: en
keywords: Ethnozoology, snake conservation, bear conservation, social media research, scientific literature, qualitative content analysis, scoping review, human attitudes, animal representations, online media portrayals, online content engagement
date published: 2026-02-27
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:56:20Z
provider: Western University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Western Ontario

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/39567