"poopinathens" is the epitome of where Instagram is right now
"Where is your favorite spot to poop?" pretty much sums up where social media is headed
Athenians may not be as bad as the Parisians when it comes to not picking up their pooch’s poopoo, but they run a close second. That revelation aside, discovering Poopinathens brings two things close to home, the second of which is a cautionary tale for anyone daft enough to use Instagram as a trip planning tool.
Poopinathens is nominally an open-book visual diary of a Maltese named Sookie who poops in various spots around the Greek capital. But it’s actually much deeper, a complete send-up of the legions of Instagrammers who think they are first folks to “discover” this or that island/cafe/attraction” or think it’s “amazing” to fly a drone over a beach and post a picture of some blue water or—you get the idea. And the “Where is your favorite spot to poop?” line is everything: how annoying is it when you stumble on the Instagram feed of some hotel group and under a picture of somebody sipping a cocktail by the pool there’s the cloying, intern-generated question, “What cocktail would you like to be sipping today?”
Ugh. I’m not saying Instagram is as bad as TikTok, but it’s getting to be pretty close. It’s full of fakery, poseurs and so much celebrity dross that you’re not even allowed to criticize them anymore, because it’s the the stupid-ass Yankee celebrities who are the ones generating revenue for Meta/Facebook/Instagram, not little old non-scam artist you. Poop in Athens? If you’re a doggie and you must, but guess what? We #pooponinstagram, and encourage you to do the same.
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Oh, and that first thing? It’s not pleasant when you’re strolling along the city streets or sipping Greek coffee at a sidewalk cafe and half to see one passerby after another pass by and stoop over to pick up their dog’s doo or, more likely, just leave it on the ground and walk away. Yuckers. We love dogs as much as the next person but come on dog lovers—how about getting yourself a nice little parakeet?