#CatOnStairs illusion looks set to usurp #TheDress as social media erupts in conflict… again
It has happened again. Twitter users are engaging in fierce debates about an optical illusion within a grainy image online.
Sparking Schrödinger's Cat-esque debates (a feline paradox thought experiment by physicist Schrödinger) online, the pictured image originally appeared on Imgur almost a week ago, with viewers unsure whether or not the cat is indeed travelling up or down a set of stairs.
Reliving much of the same hype that the black and blue - or white and gold - dress received in March (more here) Twitter users even failed to agree on a single hashtag for the discourse, which ran with #CatStairs, #CatOnStairs , #theCat and #CatGate.
Viewers remarked on Twitter just how confounding the illusion was – showing how such images have great capacity to spark engagement and debate, issuing an important reminder for social media marketers.
The newest "cat-gate" to make our minds hurt and end relationships. #TheCat #catgate pic.twitter.com/r1DaZFtdjA
— Alex Lyman (@AlexLyman89) April 10, 2015
"the cat is stationary in the photo and going nowhere" #catgate hahahahaha
— K (@MrTandaha) April 10, 2015
I think the internet need to stop posting badly taken photos and ask people to guess. #catgate #thedress
— Darryl Kang (@dk) April 10, 2015
As long as nobody's looking, the cat is going neither upstairs nor downstairs ;) #CatStairs #Schrödinger http://t.co/sZ0Qv9gso9
— JP Fritz (@JP_F) April 10, 2015
Last time around, many brands got involved in The Dress discussion, it remains to be seen whether the same will occur for #TheCat.