Facebook facilitates the widespread exchange of organisms

The aquarium trade transports countless ornamental species around the globe, creating greater opportunities for unwanted nonnative organisms to be released into the wild. The buy-sell-trade classified sections of print newspapers are a relic of the past. Instead, hobbyists now use social media platforms and Internet forums to create virtual communities where the acquisition of plants and animals via informal peer-to-peer transactions is possible. The present study aimed to investigate the behavior of aquarium hobbyists by administering a survey to Facebook groups in the U.S. that facilitate, among other things, the rehoming of aquatic organisms.

Olden, J., and K. Bach. 2025. Social media facilitates the widespread exchange of ornamental aquarium organisms among hobbyists. Management of Biological Invasions 16:659–676. Article