This week's post reminded me of when dog shaming photos went viral. These are photos where owners take pictures of their beloved pet with a hand written sign of whatever "transgression" Fluffy has committed.
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| Best supporting actor |
Bonus points if Fluffy effects an appropriately contrite pose. In all of the dog shaming performances the human identity is hidden. No human face is shown. Actually the dog's identity is also hidden. Even if the dog is named in the picture, it is difficult to ID a dog separate from all the others of their breed by just a picture. One could argue that despite being exposed they have a built-in privacy filter.
As the audience for the dog shaming pictures we have no way of knowing if the pups actually committed the egregious crimes of which they are accused. There is an implied legitimacy that is solely based on the fact that someone took the time to write words on a sheet of paper and take a picture of their pet. . . if it really is their pet. We are left to choose to believe it or not.
Some of the images include "evidence" of the crime to increase the legitimacy of the accusation. But then one has to question is this a true crime or an elaborately staged performance.
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| We finally caught ya Jasmine. . .if that's your real name. |
There was a time when it would be difficult to fathom why someone would go through the effort to mangle a Rick Grimes action figure, reassemble the skeleton, print a sign blaming the dog, pose her in a cute position, curate a well balanced still life and post it to the internet. Today however, seeking internet fame is a common goal.
Perhaps the age of simulation means it is time to revisit a motto from the early explosion of web access when anyone could slap some words on a free Geocities web page. During the '90s there was a general belief that most people wouldn't put the effort in to writing an entire book, or even a couple thousand word article to spread an untruth. Despite the evidence to the contrary things written in physical print were considered more credible and the rule of thumb was "Don't believe anything you see on the internet."
Dog shaming sources.
http://thedreamwithinpictures.com/blog/dogshaming-a-viral-photo-craze-where-dogs-confess-their-bad-behavior
https://barkpost.com/humor/dog-shaming-awards-2014/
