Bizarre History of Otherkin

The internet sometimes goes through truly curious trends with the youth

Humans are desperate for connections even in unusual circumstances

Background Note: I am a twenty-eight (28) years old person who personally witnessed a lot of what I’m about to describe in this article. This is from my perspective as such with this phenomenon.

The otherkin/therian phenomena online is an interesting case online. For those unaware, the idea of therian/otherkin deals with a spiritual type of identity. There are a few different definitions floating around the internet for what “therian” and “otherkin” mean, but one common way to see it is something you feel a deep connection to on a spiritual level and/or believe your ‘soul’ is actually that of whatever you identify with (for example someone who says they are a “cat therian” might believe their soul is that of a cat’s). A lot of people draw parallels to faiths and spiritual beliefs that give deep respect towards the natural world when trying to explain it in a way to people who are unfamiliar with it.

Tumblr was a huge hot spot for the therian/otherkin communities. Tumblr is a large social media network, with its target demographic as teenagers. Many pre-teens and teens gravitated towards this community because they were desperate to feel some kind of social connection with others who also had a love for whatever they felt they…