In the fall of 2019, four young engineers moved to House No. 23 on a student street in Bristol. Since all of them worked full-time, their landlord didn’t allow pets in the house. Having grown up surrounded by animals, the four boys were a little disappointed, but then, they saw something. One day, when they had returned home from work, they noticed a gorgeous black canine staring at them from the window of a neighbor’s house. A bulb flashed in their heads, and one of the boys sat down on his desk to type a letter to their neighbor, asking them if they could walk their dog every once in a while, reported Buzzfeed News. Some time later, they received an envelope that contained an unexpected response, from the dog itself!
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Emanuel Pedro
The four boys addressed the letter as “dear neighbor,” and related that they had moved into this house only a few months ago. “The other day, we noticed a four-legged friend looking at us out of the window when we arrived home from work. He/she seemed like the good-est boy/girl there is,” the boys wrote. The letter continued with their appeal to let them walk the dog. “If you ever need someone to walk him/her, we will gladly do so. If you ever get bored, we are more than happy to look after him/her.”
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Wild Little Things Photo
In the concluding paragraph, the boys described their reason for writing the letter, considering that their neighbor might take it too strongly. “We hope this doesn’t come too strong, but our landlord won’t allow pets, and we’ve all grown up with animals. The adult life is a struggle without one,” the letter read. They signed the letter “the boys from number 23.”
The boys were not expecting to receive a response from the dog owner, but they were swept off their feet when an envelope arrived at their door. The envelope was addressed to “The boys.” But when they flipped the envelope, they smelled good news. A sooty-colored paw was imprinted on the flap of the envelope. They opened the envelope and discovered that the letter was from the dog itself, even though it was written by its owner.
“Dearest boys,” the handwritten letter said. “What a treat it was to receive your letter! On the subject of treats, I like them a lot – big ones and meaty ones and cheesy ones,” the dog said. In the next paragraph, the dog gave its introduction. “I am two years and four months old. I am a Sheprador. I come from Cypress but Chris and Sarah rescued me from a cage in the doggy hotel.”
The doggo continued, “You’re right that I’m the best-est girl ever,” adding hilariously, “I love meeting new people and it would be great if we could be friends. I must warn you that the price of my friendship is five ball throws a day and belly scritches whenever I demand them.” The adorable canine, who signed herself as “Stevie Ticks,” concluded the letter by saying, “I’d love to hang out whenever you fancy. Give my servant Chris a WhatsApp and we can arrange a meetup. Looking forward to 'mlemming' you!” Mlem refers to the sound a canine makes when they lick someone.
“We were ecstatic at the response and couldn’t wait to walk her,” Jack McCrossan, who posted the story about the letter from Stevie on X, told Bored Panda.
A few days later, Stevie’s Instagram page popped up with a post showing the photograph of her enjoying a play date with the four boys. “Sneak peek of my first meeting with the boi's! 20/10 for scritches, did mlem, snacks given. 5/5 Uber rating, would meet again,” Stevie captioned the post.
Meanwhile, Jack’s post on X also went viral. He also posted an update sharing another photo of their play date with Stevie. Overwhelmed by how his post was doing rounds on social media, Jack told Buzzfeed News, "Surprised is an understatement. It's honestly felt very surreal seeing how popular the post has been and the thousands of positive responses from everyone!" Describing his date with Stevie, he said, "Meeting Stevie was great," and recalled, "She was definitely as energetic as described. We got to take her for a walk and she wouldn't stop running!"
When asked what prompted her to write a response letter to the boys, Sarah told Buzzfeed News, that she was so touched they had made the effort to reach out to their neighbor. "In a day and age where people don't really know or speak to their neighbors it was really nice for them to break down that barrier," she said.
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Trinity Kubassek
Sarah also said that she was planning to invite the boys around for dinner and beers so they could hang out with Stevie on the turf. And it seems, they did. In January 2020, Jack posted another tweet writing, “Stevie joined us for a movie night yesterday, safe to say she was pretty excited.” He also shared some cheery photos of the velvety black canine. While the four boys enjoyed watching the movie with packets of Butterkist popcorn, Stevie was busy posing glamorously in front of the camera, apparently because, she likes “wasabi, butternut squash, sweet potato, olives, fig rolls, sardines, and courgette cores,” and not popcorn, as Sarah revealed to Bored Panda.
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Why do some folks use social media but don't engage?
Psychologist says people who never comment on social media share these 5 positive traits
For over 20 years, social media has developed into a staple in many people’s day-to-day lives. Whether it’s to keep in communication with friends and family, following the thoughts of celebrities, or watching cat videos while sipping your morning coffee, there seem to be two types of social media users: commenters and lurkers.
The term “lurker” sounds equally mysterious and insidious, with some social media users writing them off as non-participants at best or voyeurs at worst. However, mindfulness expert Lachlan Brown believes these non-commenters have some very psychologically positive and healthy traits. Let’s take a look at how each one of these traits could be beneficial and see how fruitful lurking might be even though it can drive content creators crazy.
1. Cautious about vulnerability
Consciously or not, making a post online or commenting on one puts you and your words out there. It’s a statement that everyone can see, even if it’s as simple as clicking “like.” Doing so opens yourself up to judgment, with all the good, bad, and potential misinterpretation that comes with it. Non-commenters would rather not open themselves up to that.
These silent users are connected to a concept of self-protection by simply not engaging. By just scrolling past posts or just reading/watching them without commentary, they’re preventing themselves from any downsides of sharing an opinion such as rejection, misunderstanding, or embarrassment. They also have more control on how much of themselves they’re willing to reveal to the general public, and tend to be more open face-to-face or during one-on-one/one-on-few private chats or DMs. This can be seen as a healthy boundary and prevents unnecessary exposure.
Considering many comment sections, especially involving political topics, are meant to stir negative emotional responses to increase engagement, being extra mindful about where, when, and what you comment might not be a bad idea. They might not even take the engagement bait at all. Or if they see a friend of theirs post something vulnerable, they feel more motivated to engage with them personally one-on-one rather than use social media to publicly check in on them.
2. Analytical and reflective mindset
How many times have you gone onto Reddit, YouTube, or any other site and just skimmed past comments that are just different versions of “yes, and,” “no, but,” or “yes, but”? Or the ever insightful, formerly popular comment “First!” in a thread? These silent browsers lean against adding to such noise unless they have some valid and thoughtful contribution (if they bother to comment period).
These non-posters are likely wired on reflective thinking rather than their initial intuition. Not to say that all those who comment aren’t thoughtful, but many tend to react quickly and comment based on their initial feelings rather than absorbing the information, thinking it over, researching or testing their belief, and then posting it. For "lurkers," it could by their very nature to just do all of that and not post it at all, or share their thoughts and findings privately with a friend. All in all, it’s a preference of substance over speed.
3. High sense of self-awareness
Carried over from the first two listed traits, these silent social media users incorporate their concern over their vulnerability and their reflective mindset into digital self-awareness. They know what triggers responses out of them and what causes them to engage in impulsive behavior. It could be that they have engaged with a troll in the past and felt foolish. Or that they just felt sad after a post or got into an unnecessary argument that impacted them offline. By knowing themselves and seeing what’s being discussed, they choose to weigh their words carefully or just not participate at all. It’s a form of self-preservation through restraint.
4. Prefer to observe rather than perform
Some folks treat social media as information, entertainment, or a mix of both, and commenting can feel like they’re yelling at the TV, clapping alone in a movie theater when the credits roll, or yelling “That’s not true!” to a news anchor that will never hear them. But contrary to that, social media is a place where those yells, claps, and accusations can be seen and get a response. By its design, social media is considered by experts and the media as performative, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Taking all of the previously mentioned traits into account, one can see why they would prefer to “observe the play” rather than get up on the stage of Facebook or X.
On top of that, these non-commenters could be using social media differently than those who choose to fully engage with it. Using this type of navigation, there may be nothing for them to comment about. Some commenters are even vying for this for their mental health. There are articles about how to better curate your social media feeds and manipulate algorithms to create a better social media experience to avoid unnecessary conflict or mentally tiring debate.
If you go on a blocking spree on all of your accounts and just follow the posters that boost you, it could turn your social media into a nice part of your routine as you mainly engage with others face-to-face or privately. In terms of commenting, if your curated Instagram is just following cute dogs and all you have to offer for a comment is “cute dog,” you might just enjoy the picture and then move on with your day rather than join in the noise. These non-commenters aren’t in the show and they’re fine with it.
5. Less motivated by social validation
The last trait that Brown showcases is that social media users who browse without posting tend to be independent from external validation, at least online. Social media is built to grow through feedback loops such as awarding likes, shares, and reposts of your content along with notifications letting you know that a new person follows you or wants to connect. This can lead many people to connect their activity on social media with their sense of self worth, especially with adolescents who are still figuring out their place in the world and have still-developing brains.
Engaging in social media via likes, shares, comments, and posts rewards our brains by having them release dopamine, which makes us feel good and can easily become addictive. For whatever reason, non-commenters don’t rely on social media as a means to gauge their social capital or self worth. This doesn’t make them better than those who do. While some non-commenters could have healthier ways to boost their self worth or release dopamine into their systems, many get that validation from equally unhealthy sources offline. That said, many non-commenters’ silence could be a display of independence and self confidence.
Whether you frequently comment online or don’t, it’s good to understand why you do or don’t. Analyzing your habits can help you determine whether your online engagement is healthy, or needs to be tweaked. With that information, you can then create a healthy social media experience that works for you.