The untimely passing of Alan TBH Plumptre has left the unofficial Tatler spokesperson’s impressive social media following in mourning. Plumptre, known as @TatlerAlan on Twitter, died last month in a tragic revolving-door related incident at the magazine’s central London HQ. The homages that have spilled forth on the social networking website make it clear he will be deeply missed for his wry social commentary, not to mention his super-cute photos.

Oh, sorry. We’re talking about a dog here. A long-haired miniature dachshund and much-loved social media presence, to be precise. Plumptre, during his short life, was a tribute to petworking, a trend whereby proud owners produce and update social media profiles for their animal pals. A study commissioned by PetPlan in 2011 suggested that one in ten housepets in the UK are on some social networking site. Some animals are even proving more popular online than us bipeds: Twitter-savvy Sockington the cat had over 1.4 million followers at last count; Boo, a Pomeranian on Facebook, has been liked by nearly six and a half million fans and has been officially categorised as a public figure - as well as ‘The World’s Cutest Dog’.

YouTube sensation Maru The Cat’s videos have racked up millions of views…

Where else would this be possible but on the internet, that great virtual souk of the discounted, the pornographic and the totally absurd? Taking on a pet’s persona online allows internauts to assume another identity – often one funnier, more light-hearted, and apparently more likeable than their own. Doing so has unsurprisingly proved popular at a time when there’s great pressure to keep one’s own social media profile spotless. These days, when we’re encouraged to ‘manage’ our online identities with Stalinite precision, taking on those of our non-human friends offers not only more freedom and creativity, but also a bit of fun.

Like everything else ever, though, petworking has suffered its critics. Some say it’s a waste of time, that it’s a sign of a broken, mangled society if we can’t find anything more ‘worthy’ to fill our online hours. But in these sorts of critiques, what counts as a time-wasting activity isn’t always made clear a priori. Does updating one’s own profile count as productive, by contrast? Considering that an estimated half of the UK’s (human) population is on Facebook, spinning their mental wheels at any given time in aid of their next witty status update, it’s a question worth posing.

Others say petworking treads perilously close to Too Much Information (TMI) territory. It qualifies as oversharing, which at present seems to be the most grievous possible breach of internet politesse. It’s worth noting that expressing an opinion about anything, from what you ate at midday to your views on the Middle East, may also be lumped into this category. Now, one cannot be faulted for taking the appropriate precautions when putting private information into the public realm. This is common sense and nothing new: loose lips sank ships long before Facebook. But along with all this paranoia about social media palavers, we treat the appearance of anything “too personal” with the same kind of smugness and exaggerated vexation accorded the now very controversial “Christmas letter”.

Isn’t this, though, what social media is there for? For swapping stories and viewpoints and expressing excitement, shame or sorrow in the company of others; for telling the world how smart your kids are, how cute your cat is, or vice versa; for doing that most basal of things that people do with each other (let’s call it “socialising”, for ease of reference)? Provided that people are comfortable with, aware and in control of how much or how little privacy they do have, I fail to see anything wrong with this. In fact, I genuinely thought that this was the whole idea. Social networking that’s not at all social, isn’t it kind of missing the point?

It’s a funny thing being human. Despite our love for schadenfreude, for scandal and disgrace, we also desperately need positivity in our lives. We spend bales of cash each year on therapy, self-help books, life coaching and meditation retreats just to wring ourselves dry of the negativity in which we’re daily steeped. All this, when research actually shows that what might help us would be to spend more time socialising, with each other and with our companion animals.

There is already so much negativity in the world, much of it draining into a bubbling, mewling cesspool of anonymous ire on the internet. Why do we go such pains to pretend we’re not interested in the little glimmers of joy that appear there – the holiday pictures, the happy pronouncements, the amusing insights of pets? A little social interaction goes a long way to lightening things up, no matter where in Kingdom Animalia you come from. In short, I think non-human animals have as much a place on social media as us homo sapiens, bringing some much-needed positivity to an otherwise dog-eat-dog place.

A Day in the Life of the World’s Cutest Dog, Boo. Yes, really…