Jessie Stivers and Olivia Eubanks
We chose April the Giraffe as our topic for the interviews. Last Thursday, the Animal Adventure Park in New York set up a Giraffe Cam, a live video stream of one of their giraffes, April, who was said to be expected to give birth “at any minute.”Initially, the videos stream received some critique from animal activists and was temporarily taken down. As of Sunday, however, the video is back up and almost a week from the time it was originally posted, there is still no baby. The live stream spread to Facebook, with many people buzzing about when April might give birth. As I write this post, there are over 80,000 viewers tuned in, anxiously awaiting April’s calf. We chose April as our topic because it is light and fun but still relevant because it started over social media and people are talking about it both in person and on various forms of social media.
We asked each participant 3-4 questions, depending on how the conversation went. We thought that the following 4 questions would allow us to get a good idea of how the interviewees were feeling about April’s labor process being streamed.
- Do you know about April the Giraffe?
- What was your initial reaction to the video?
- When do you think April will give birth? Or do you think it’s a scam?
- How often are you checking in on April?
The hashtag that accompanied all live interviews was #whenisaprilgivingbirth because after six days, we thought the question was pretty pressing.
#whenisaprilgivingbirth Students Wait (Not So) Patiently for the Arrival of a Baby Giraffe
Since Animal Adventure Park’s February 23rd live stream of April, a pregnant giraffe showing signs of labor, thousands of viewers are glued to their computer screens in anticipation. When it was originally posted, the caption teased that the birth would happen “any minute now.” It has been six days since then, and still no giraffe calf. Social media is buzzing over the much awaited baby, but we decided to talk to Seton Hall students about their feelings on the topic.
While some are interested in finding out when the baby will come, they have to admit that it’s a bit lackluster. Most of the video is April “just walking around.”
Others are confident that April will pull through and that the birth will be worth the wait and are actively checking in. “I tune into the video every time I scroll past it on my Facebook feed- which is actually a lot!” – Michelle
https://twitter.com/livingwliv1/status/836742851568488448
Some people really feel for April. When asked about when they think April might have her baby Megan answered “Hopefully pretty soon. It seems miserable to be in labor for 3 days.”
All in all, the feelings of April here on campus are pretty positive. Be it an escape from studying for midterms or a genuine interest in giraffes, everyone is anxiously waiting for April and her baby!
Social Media in PR and Journalism 