Is it wrong to post an image of your recently deceased pet to gain virtual rewards?
That question is the subject of hot debate on social news site Reddit today. Users frequently post images of their deceased pets, with headlines like these:
“My dog was born on the same day as I was. He died today at 17 years old. RIP Snowy.”
On social networks like Facebook, this is normal: It’s only human to share grief people who know you. And likes or comments garner nothing but ordinary consolation.
But the Reddit community views itself as different.
Not only is it composed of millions of (mostly) strangers, it also awards karma points to successful submissions. Karma is a kind of reputation tracker. High karma means your contributions are valued by the community, and vice versa.
And that — the fact that a reward is associated with a plea for sympathy — is ruffling some feathers among people who take this stuff seriously.
At the TheoryofReddit subreddit, where users pontificate on the deeper meaning of everything Reddit, some redditors took a long, hard look at the trend.
“Maybe I’m cynical, but posting these kinds of things seem really insincere simply because of the karma associated with it.” wrote ifellofthejunglegym.
“Posting a picture of a sad dog with puppy eyes and saying he has died is just cheap,” added clydethefrong in the same thread. “But most of the people will upvote it anyway because it’s sad.”
But the debate expanded beyond that small and relatively erudite section.
One thread by redditor conderoga nearly made it to the site’s front page earlier today. That post was titled “Can we stop with the ‘my pet died’ posts? I’m sorry for you but I really don’t want to stir up all those emotions every day.”
That drew nearly 2,00 upvotes, and over 150 comments.
And elsewhere across the site, at least a half dozen threads popped up mocking the practice.
“MY DOG DIED I NEED UPVOTES TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!!” redditor moosedy titled a post in the site’s home for self-mockery, r/circlejerk.
“Hey reddit,” posted another redditor in the r/funny section. “This is my dog it died defending me from Ninjas with Rocket propelled grenades, He died. He was my only friend.”
Not everyone took such a cynical approach to the problem, however.
The posts do more than just pull one’s heartstrings, they observed.
“After I see a post,” wrote jm4130, “I feel like I appreciate my dog more because I know she will be gone someday too.”
Photo via Imgur
