Showing the world that you're compassionate toward animals is easier than ever with PETA's purple ribbon. Today we reached our goal of 100,000 postings of the ribbon on Facebook, thanks to you, our ever-helpful supporters. By reposting this ribbon, you're telling friends and family that animal abuse will not be tolerated and that public awareness of animal issues is growing.

Now that's something to be proud of.  Let's keep this momentum going. Who knows? Perhaps a new record will be reached, which could only mean more good news for animals.

Written by Christine Becknell

Jesse Eisenberg, the critically acclaimed star of The Social Network, isn't just known for his comedic wit and acting chops. The newly minted vegetarian and reigning "Sexiest Geek Alive" is also a foster parent to homeless cats. All together, girls: aaaaaaaaaaaaw.

During a recent appearance on Conan, Jesse said, "I have two [cats] now, but I'm on a list where they can deliver them to the house. To be a foster parent for cats is basically to have tenants coming in and out. I have a lot of cats, a lot of cat food, a lot of litter—and nothing else in the apartment."

To borrow a familiar Facebook term, we definitely "like" it.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

What's the latest must-have application for compassionate online activists? PETA's Purple Ribbon, of course! With the click of a mouse, you can fight cruelty to animals by posting our Purple Ribbon to your Facebook wall and asking your friends to post it too.

We're fewer than 40,000 likes away from the 1 million mark, and with the help of this ribbon, we might just reach our goal. The more likes we have, the more people we can reach. The more people we can reach, the more animals' lives we can save. So how 'bout it, Facebook friends—will you help spread compassion?

Written by Michelle Sherrow

What happens when an animal rights activist armed with a video camera goes into fur salons and tells the employees that animals are sometimes skinned alive for their fur? Watch this video to find out:

For the impatient among you, fast-forward to 5:20 to see the, ahem, fur really start to fly.

If you haven't already done so, post a link to PETA's Chinese fur farm investigation footage (the impetus for the fur salon ambush) on your Facebook page. 'Tis the season for giving people a reason to scratch fur off their Christmas lists.

Written by Alisa Mullins

Oh, how "tweet" it is to be loved by you! Thanks to your nominations, PETA is now one of the top five finalists for this year's Mashable Award in the Must-Follow Non-Profit category. We're really itching to break out the "We're #1" foam finger, so how about lending us a hand?

According to the Mashable Awards' website, the awards "celebrate major innovations and achievements in the digital and social media landscape by companies, people and projects via an open, multilingual, international, community-nominated voting platform."

All you have to do to nominate PETA for the award is sign in using Facebook or Twitter—or both. Select "@PETA" and hit "vote." (FYI: Retweeting PETA doesn't count as a full vote.) You can cast one vote for PETA per day, so please vote every day until the voting ends on December 15.

Thanks for your support. (If there were a category for Best Supporters Ever, we would totally nominate all of you!) Please vote now, and then check out what we're up to on Facebook and Twitter.

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth

Today we're celebrating Cyber Monday by flooding Donna Karan's Facebook page. This method has been used in the past to commandeer the pages of other high-profile folks in order to get a point across. Here's the vertical message that people saw when they logged on to the notorious fur hag's Facebook wall this morning:

We're banking on the fact that this ingenious message—sent on the busiest online shopping day of the year— will make the throngs of people perusing Donna Karan's pelt-pimping page think twice about giving their hard-earned bucks to a bunny butcher. After all, there's nothing appealing about wearing fur from rabbits who howl like human babies when their skin is peeled away from their body as if it were a sweater.

So after you finish shopping online, how about using your Facebook page to help us spread the word that Donna Karan butchers bunnies?

P.S. After this major flood, Donna Karan had better hope that she can swim. What do you think?

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth

mikebaird/CC by 2.0

Don't eat so much Tofurky that you sleep through Fur-Free Friday! This special day for animals falls on the busiest shopping day of the year, so it's the perfect opportunity to remind people that the fur in stores comes from living, breathing animals who were cruelly confined and killed. Every year, compassionate people around the world join together on the day after Thanksgiving to educate holiday shoppers about why fur belongs on animals, not our shopping lists.

Most fur comes from China, where there are no penalties for abusing animals on fur farms and animals are raised in unbearably cramped and squalid cages. When it's time to slaughter the animals, workers yank them out of their cages, slam them to the ground, bludgeon them, and then rip the skin from their bodies—often while they're still alive. The workers then kill the animals with the cheapest and cruelest killing methods available, including suffocation, electrocution, gas, and poison.

So what are you waiting for? There is probably a Fur-Free Friday event happening near you—check PETA's website, Facebook, or Meetup.com to find an event in your area.

How do you plan to get active for animals this Fur-Free Friday?

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

shorts and longs/CC by 2.0

Not to brag or anything, but guess which organization near and dear to your hearts is a "Genius"? If you said PETA, you're right—at least according to L2, a think tank for digital innovation, which ranked PETA number one among advocacy groups and number three overall in their first annual Digital IQ Index® for the Public Sector. In fact, PETA was the only advocacy group to earn the "Genius" designation for digital competence (i.e., inspiring action via Facebook, YouTube, unique Web features such as peta2's Trollsen Twins site, etc.), earning a slot above the U.S. Army, and just below NASA and the White House!

Of course, these digital innovations are thanks to the wonderful members who make all of PETA's work possible. To become a PETA member, click here.

Written by Jeff Mackey

Tim Sackton/CC by 2.0

When killing time came, a Concordia, Kansas, high school student wasted not a minute in taking action to save a friend. No way, no how was Whitney Hillman going to bind her beloved chicken's feet with wire and chop his head off over a bucket, as an animal husbandry teacher at Concordia High School had instructed her class to do. Instead, Whitney placed Chicklett Chicken-Hillman in her bag and headed home.

Whitney's decision landed her a two-day, in-school suspension—but Chicklett was saved and sent to live on a farm. Does Whitney have any regrets? Heck no! She gladly accepted her punishment for leaving school grounds, paid the school for Chicklett, and has refused to apologize for her actions, noting that her previously stated objections were ignored by the instructor.  

PETA's youth division, peta2, is sending Whitney a big "thank you!" for recognizing that chickens are friends (in Chicklett's case, even Facebook friends), not food. History will look back kindly on this compassionate student.

Written by Karin Bennett

Actor Jesse Eisenberg—who portrays Facebook CEO and rumored vegan, Mark Zuckerberg, in the soon-to-be-released film The Social Network—recently revealed that he himself is a vegetarian. He recalled a brawlccoli that he had with a fellow straphanger and vegetarian on an NYC subway: New to vegetarianism at the time, Jesse was hoping to get some tips. Apparently, the guy wasn't interested in sharing.

To help Jesse (and anyone else who'd like info about animal-friendly living), PETA's happy to share a ton of tips. Why, here's my own Incredible Chocolate Pie recipe. PETA Files readers, care to share tips or recipes with vegetarian and vegan newbies?

Written by Karin Bennett