Poopstagram and Crapchat: The Most Intimate Form of Communication

As long as technology has made it possible, people have sent pictures to each other. For just as long, people have embraced this technology to send photos of their shit.

I have been on the receiving end of these photos, as early as a photo SMS and as recent as a Snapchat video. (I would like to take the opportunity now to say on the record that I myself have never sent any media of this type. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar and no one is going to believe you.)

Upon further investigation, Instagram is littered with these fecal photographers, who enjoy one of two related activities:

1. Taking a photo of themselves on the toilet.

2. Taking a photo of their results in the toilet.

The two are vastly different in both intent and content, and comparing the two is difficult, a task not entirely like comparing an apple and an orange. Especially if the orange was a photo of a piece of shit, and the apple was a picture of a person on the toilet. However, they are both worth exploring, as I'm sure they will be a sociocultural phenomenon discussed long after humanity circles the drain.

Why is this a thing?

At first, this putrid behavior seems like another example of humans wastefully using technology. There are a number of Instagram hashtags devoted to taking photos of the happenings on, in, and around the toilet. As I write this, #Poopstagram has 6,419 photos, #shitpic has 10,223, and #toiletselfie is topping the poo-related charts at 74,388.

I reached out to some of the folks who are willing to wear their digestive tract on their sleeve, to see what motivates one to document one of life's most intimate activities.

One [redacted username] was a recent participant in a #ToiletSelfie, which is pretty self-explanatory. When I inquired what drew the artist to take this photo, we had a much more pleasant interaction than I expected. He explained that "THE FREEDOM!!!" was his motive. Nothing more.

Another person has taken it upon themselves to aggregate these photos with the aptly-named @shitpics Instagram account. Again, pretty self-explanatory stuff; fecal photographers are very straightforward with their nomenclature. When I asked for the motivation behind the account, the creator of @shitpics account hit me with the following knowledge bomb: "You see, people all over the world post vast pictures of their latest meals and achievements. So I thought to myself, 'there's got to be more to this story behind the scenes?'" he wrote. "And of coarse [sic] this leads me to the world of shit. Somebody has to post the truth. Then you find a sort of respect for poo, you're not just taking a bog… It's art!"

He basically said that poop photography is avante-garde art that uncovers the horrible truth: people poop after they eat. As he notes: Somebody has to post the truth.

I have also personally received an innumerable amount of "crapchats." These I find more interesting, given the subject matter. Almost all of these have reached me in the form of a Snapchat video, and all from the same person, who I went to high school with. We do not keep in touch, so I figured I was not the only person receiving these videos—otherwise this would be strange form of cyberbullying.

I reached out to Geronimo (name changed for privacy reasons) via text to ask a couple questions. A master of the crapchat video, he estimates he's sent close to 100 of these videos. He sends them to a carefully curated list of "snapchat bros," because "if you send shit vids to girls you are basically saying, 'Hey I never want to see you naked, here's me pooping.'" He does note he's sent a couple to his sister: "she's got a couple of the ones [I] was real proud of lol," he said.

Geronimo notes the process is freeing. He "Def feels liberated as fuck sending them out cause its like 'hey dude look at what I just did during my bathroom break at work don't act like you're not impressed.'"

I told Geronimo I had my own theories why people would send these photos and videos, and he responded with his own viewpoint.

"And I think I do it just cause everyone poops and poop is funny and when you're on the toilet might as well make use if [sic] your time lol plus when you see the purple video tab you don't know what it's gonna be so I know if someone is at work or just waking up or w.e they're gonna laugh hysterically," he said. "Basically I use my shit vids to spread laughter and joy amongst my snapchat bros."

I would posit that, just maybe, sending someone a shitpic is the bravest and most intimate form of communication, and not simply a crude and disgusting form of digital harassment. Photos sent while pooping are not about terrifying the viewer, or at least not always. They're about challenging social norms, having fun, and bringing enjoyment to an otherwise boring workday.

Again, to be clear, I've never taken one of these photos, and never would. But I admire the lack of filter for those who have, and those who will go on to send them in the future. Remember that many artists are not appreciated until they are dead.