Shelter CEO Asks Facebook To Spare Nonprofits In News Feed Change

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL - The major changes that are about to come in Facebook news feed preferences incited a passionate response from a local animal shelter whose fear is that the changes could make it harder for them to connect their pets with new families.

Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday night that the social media giant will be making "major changes" to users' news feeds, changing the goal "from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions." This means people will soon see more posts from friends, family and groups and less from businesses, brands and media.

While Zuckerberg did not specifically mention the status of non-profits in the announcement, Emily Klehm of the South Suburban Humane Society in Chicago Heights fears the change will result in much less engagement on her Facebook posts, which over the past few years have provided immediate assistance in the care of animals in their shelter and in many cases have placed dogs and cats with loving families.

"You’ve built an entire new world where people are able to come together whether near or far to make great things happen," Klehm, the shelter's CEO, wrote in an open letter to Facebook and Zuckerberg that was posted on the shelter's page Friday morning. "Please consider allowing nonprofit Pages to continue to be seen in our community’s news feeds and exempting them from the changes."

Klehm called the timing of Zuckerberg's announcement "extraordinary."

"Today is the anniversary of one of our greatest Facebook moments. A year ago today, a severely emaciated dog gave birth to ten puppies and couldn’t feed them. We posted on our Facebook Page (original photo of the puppies accompanies this post) of our immediate foster need and within TWO HOURS a foster was at the shelter ready to take this on. The puppies grew, thrived, and all of them including mom were later adopted."

For nonprofits like the South Suburban Humane Society, Facebook has been the most efficient tool to reach the public when there is no budget for marketing or advertising. Thousands of people have rallied around sick dogs and have been able to exude compassion in times of despair.

People have "waited for updates about pets they never met but nonetheless cared deeply about."

"Your point in limiting the reach of Pages is to spur more social connection in our increasingly isolated world," Klehm wrote. "It’s noble and we agree with it. But we argue that that’s exactly what our Page does and what so many nonprofit Pages do. In this same isolated world where government cannot and, in many cases, will not address all of the issues happening in our communities, nonprofits are the glue holding us all together."

Photo: South Suburban Humane Society CEO Emily Klehm with Stripes, the office cat at the shelter. Provided by the South Suburban Humane Society