This summer, Adoptions From The Heart has been working hard to engage our social media followers. We want to help people understand adoption while also getting the support they need before, during, and after their adoption journey. We try to create content that is relevant and meaningful to all members of the adoption triad. Here is a look at some of our favorite and most successful posts of the summer from our Facebook page!
Social in June
Back in June, AFTH held their Annual Family Picnic at Fort Washington State Park. We felt honored to have PHL17 share footage and kind words about our event. Our sharing of the broadcast reached many of our followers and their friends and we saw engagement from some of the actual attendees of the picnic!
Here at AFTH, we strive to educate our followers, and those who may see us in a scrolling internet glance. We hope to teach about the realities of adoption. Posting articles and content from outside sources, such as Adoption.com helps us get many voices out about the adoption journey. In this post, we shared a piece where a birth mother shared that in choosing adoption, she did not “give up” her child. This post touched the hearts of many people; birth parents, adults who were adopted children, adoptive parents and more. 81 people shared this awesome piece.
This article was shared in regards to a potential change in PA adoption laws. The House voted 185 to 13 to shorten the length of time a woman has to change her mind about placing a child for adoption. Currently she has 30 days, and they voted to change it to 2 weeks. While the reaction to this post varied for followers, it’s important to share new information surrounding adoption legislation. With over 14,000 people reached, we hope we helped provide some of that knowledge.
Social in July
This post was the first of many in the #BirthFatherFriday campaign which we continue to create and share content for every week. The post was a quote from an AFTH birth father. Although it was the first post of its kind, it still did extremely well, reaching nearly 7,000 people. Birth fathers, and male figures in general, are often the last people society thinks about when talking about adoption. As advocates for the support of all members of the adoption triad, no matter their gender, we wanted to bring this important dialogue to the forefront.
Another great opportunity to educate! Social workers are a huge part of the adoption process. Here at AFTH, we have many dedicated social workers who work passionately every day to place children in loving homes and support all members of the adoption triad. This post, reaching almost 7,000 people, linked to an AFTH blog. This piece gave an inside look at adoption from one of our agency’s own social workers.
This emotional story is one we shared of a young 14-year-old boy, Campbell, who auditioned for the X Factor. He sang a song that reflected his feelings about his birth mother. He sang A Thousand Years, by Christina Perri. Campbell shared his story of growing up with two dads who he couldn’t be more grateful to and how he hopes to one day meet his mother. He wants to make her proud and make sure she knows he is proud of her too, for her decision to place him for adoption. This post reached over 10,000 people and touched the hearts of adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoptees alike.
Social in August
As the Rio Olympics and all of its excitement swept the world, we never expected to be able to contribute so directly to the conversations going on. Finding out Simone Biles, who won 4 Gold Medals and 1 Bronze during the games, was an adoptee herself was wonderful. Showing adoptees a positive influence like Simone is important. Our followers agreed with over 300 reactions and almost 30 shares.
This post means a lot to everyone at AFTH and our social media followers. Open adoption is a concept AFTH was built on. In fact, our agency requires a minimum openness level from any prospective adoptive parents hoping to work with us. This graphic we created depicts why we stand strong for open adoption. Many people find it scary, but truthfully, you are expanding your family and allowing your child the ability to understand their background. We know many families who truly consider birth parents a part of their family orchard and even celebrate holidays together. Some of them make up the 417 combined engagements of reactions, comments, and shares on this post!
We can’t take much credit for this one, but our followers sure loved it! This post was a graphic created by adoption.com. When we saw it, we had to post it, tagging them of course! This image said it all, leaving us little to add. A family with love and caring is a family. No title or non-traditional dynamic affects that. We completely agreed with our source and so did our followers. This was apparent by the 3,069 combined engagements of reactions, shares, and comments!
Grand Finale of AFTH Summer Social Media
Reach: 604,162 Combined Interactions: 36,920
Likes: 32292 Comments: 801 Shares: 3878
One post from July takes the cake for this summer, and probably AFTH’s entire social media history, as the farthest reaching, most reacted to, commented on, and shared post. We loved to see how this post grabbed attention. It shows how many people feel truly touched by adoption and appreciate the importance of finding loving, forever homes for children. At an information meeting one couple even said the reason they came was because they saw this image on Facebook. They felt a connection to our organization because of it. We are so happy we can bring people to adoption through our social media channels and provide a community to all of our followers.
Throughout the summer we have had many exciting events, contests, and other posts on our Facebook. One Instagram contest resulted in many comments featuring photos of adorable children through adoption, beaming with joy. Posts about our Potbelly Fundraisers, held once every one to two months, reached many people, helping us raise more funds for the Expecting and Birth Parent Support Fund. Make sure to join us for the next one! In addition to all of these amazing posts are other articles, quotes, and photos. These reach the people in our following who need them just at that time. Adoption is beautiful, but it’s also tough. Due to the emotional realities of adoption, we hope our social media content helps our followers feel supported. Also, that it provides education about adoption in general and the dedication of Adoption From The Heart.
