<<The>> internet of animals human-animals relationships in the digital age

'The internet is made of cats' is a half-jokingly made claim. Today, animals of all shapes and sizes inhabit our digital spaces, from the monitoring of wildlife and feral animals to wearable devices and RFID chips for livestock. In this book, Deborah Lupton explores how digital technologies and datafication are changing our relationships with other animals. Playfully building on the concept of 'The Internet of Things', it discusses the complex relationships and feelings that have developed between people and animals online and through the use of digital devices, from the rapid dissemination of images and information about animals on social media to employing animal-like robots as companions and care devices. It brings together a range of perspectives including sociology, cultural geography, environmental humanities, critical animal studies and internet studies to consider how these new digital technologies are contributing to major changes in human-animal relationships at both the micropolitical and macropolitical levels. As the book shows, while digital devices and media have strengthened people's relationships to other animals, these technologies can also objectify animals as things for human entertainment, therapy or economic exploitation. This original and engaging book will be of interest to scholars and students across the social sciences and humanities. 'The internet is made of cats' is a half-jokingly made claim. Today, animals of all shapes and sizes inhabit our digital spaces, including companion animals, wildlife, feral animals and livestock. In this book, Deborah Lupton explores how digital technologies and datafication are changing our relationships with other animals. Playfully building on the concept of 'The Internet of Things', she discusses the complex feelings that have developed between people and animals through the use of digital devices, from social media to employing animal-like robots as companions and carers. The book brings together a range of perspectives, including those of sociology, cultural geography, environmental humanities, critical animal studies and internet studies, to consider how these new digital technologies are contributing to major changes in humananimal relationships at both the micropolitical and macropolitical levels. As Lupton shows, while digital devices and media have strengthened people's relationships to other creatures, these technologies can also objectify animals as things for human entertainment, therapy or economic exploitation. This original and engaging book will be of interest to scholars and students across the social sciences and humanities. Throughout the book, I analyse the content and use of these devices, software and media from a socioculturalperspective, identifying implications for human–animal relationships and for generating ideas about future developments for digital technologies that have the potential to contribute to both human and nonhuman animalflourishing across the world. I argue that the ways in which animals are portrayed, monitored and cared forby humans using digital media and devices have significant implications for how humans and animals will livetogether in the near future: including human and animal health and wellbeing, environmental sustainabilityand activism, and industries related to digital technology development, animal care, animal protection, food production and consumption, smart homes and smart cities. I seek to contextualize digitized human–animalrelationships within their more-than-digital contexts, acknowledging that digital technologies are always usedin places and spaces in which other objects – both living and non-living – are present. Cover 1 Half-title page 3 Title page 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 Acknowledgement 8 Introduction 9 1 Conceptualizing Humans, Animals and Human-Animal Relations 34 2 Animal Enthusiasts, Activism and Politics in Digital Media 60 3 The Quantified Animal and Dataveillance 85 4 Animal Cuteness, Therapy and Celebrity Online 111 5 Animal Avatars and Zoomorphic Robots 136 Conclusion: Reimagining Human-Animal Relations 162 Appendix 177 References 180 Index 203