ABSTRACT This study explores how domestic cats and their connections to humans are represented in a modern photo-sharing context through content analysis of Reddit, a popular social media website. By examining the photos that cat owners share online, as well as the language that accompanies the photos, we create an understanding of how images encourage the social construction of cats as beings who exhibit features of personhood. We collected photos and accompanying titles from the largest cat community on Reddit. We used value coding to examine attitudes toward cats in post titles and pattern coding to develop overarching themes. We used a similar approach for analyzing photos: we assigned each image one or more codes describing the cat, humans, and other relevant details. We then generated themes to describe the dataset overall. Individuals who contribute to the online community inform multispecies social theory through constructing their cats as persons embedded in relationships with humans, particularly in families, in many of the same ways as did personal photography from the early twenti- eth century. Cat owners impart personhood through attribution of thought, individuality, and emotion, as well as defining the cat’s social space. They also conceive of cats as members of the family through expressions of caretaking, biographies, and mourning rituals. Through meaningful, intentional interactions, cats are widely constructed as persons who fulfill familial and social functions in many of the same ways as humans. Examination of the human– cat relationship and its social context may inspire higher esteem for cats, resulting in more compassionate treatment in policy circles and in society.

中文翻译：

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“一只非常上镜的猫”：个性、社会地位和在线猫照片分享

摘要 本研究通过对流行社交媒体网站 Reddit 的内容分析，探讨了家猫及其与人类的联系如何在现代照片共享环境中呈现。通过检查猫主人在网上分享的照片，以及照片所用的语言，我们了解了图像如何鼓励猫作为展现人格特征的人的社会建构。我们从 Reddit 上最大的猫社区收集了照片和随附的标题。我们使用价值编码来检查帖子标题中对猫的态度，并使用模式编码来制定总体主题。我们使用类似的方法来分析照片：我们为每个图像分配一个或多个描述猫、人类和其他相关细节的代码。然后我们生成主题来描述整个数据集。为在线社区做出贡献的个人通过将他们的猫构建为与人类，尤其是家庭关系中的人，以与 20 世纪早期的个人摄影相同的方式为多物种社会理论提供信息。猫主人通过思想、个性和情感的归属以及定义猫的社交空间来赋予人格。他们还通过照顾、传记和哀悼仪式的表达将猫视为家庭成员。通过有意义的、有意的互动，猫被广泛地塑造为以与人类相同的许多方式履行家庭和社会功能的人。对人猫关系及其社会背景的考察可能会激发人们对猫的更高尊重，