Hashtags are truly a source of digital currency, as if we think to the definition itself as a system of exchange, used by people or nations as a standardized form of money. Recently, there have been many forms of currency circulating, as I am prompted to think of cryptocurrency in the bitcoin space. Although it is a decentralized form of exchange, as authorities do not control of it, it still mediates various forms of transactions online. 

Therefore, hashtags can be thought of in this way, as individuals can swipe through a digital catalogue to find their perfect match. The process becomes simple after that, as users can simply 'direct message' the page to get connected. To add, the legality of buying and selling animals on the web is grey, as most of these transactions need to happen in the crypto space. Therefore, as we think of becoming-animal, we have to also keep in mind how the transaction is facilitated. Namely, the Instagram machine has a mind of its own, as the algorithm can so quickly direct you to what you are searching for. Even further, searching hashtags in different languages (serval in English, сервал in Russian) produce various results as these transactions are place-specific too. When hashtags are created, they can be used to start a story since the image that is linked to it can be tracked through time and allows for a timestamp to be applied. Although the images may be lost in the matrix of the thousands of others, nonetheless it is still there and can be tracked down.

I also wanted to look at multiple Instagram pages and the hashtags attached to it since these pages are using hashtags as a way to boost their social media traffic as well as marketing their big cats, in hopes that the hashtags will pick their posts up in the algorithm. Therefore, by focusing on multiple accounts, it is easier to get a better idea on how deep these pages go, to see if these pages all start around the same time. Although some pages have hundreds of posts to go through, I wanted to see if anything 'fell' through the cracks. Namely, I wanted to see if the relationship between the owner and the serval changes over time, if it either becomes more restrictive (limiting showing the habits of the serval) or more independent (the owner allows the audience to see every aspect of the serval and its interaction with the owner itself and any other beings that are being shown in these posts). 

The pages below will give a comprehensive overview of my methodology when tackling these pages as I certainly cannot pick everything that the hashtags produce. First, I wanted to strictly view posts in Russian as the results are more accurate and brings me to understand the locations (mostly Moscow and Saint Petersburg come up as dominant places to search for servals). Second, I chose accounts that were trying to portray a 'story' about the serval, either by giving it a nonconventional animal name (like Spots, Whiskers, etc) - these naming conventions can also be turned into their own hashtags and can be immortalized in the digital space. Finally, I was looking for the 'Russian Instagram Girl' as I wanted to question what she was doing there with the cat. Does the hashtag work in tandem in the post, or does it sit against the Instagram post, subliminally calling out what is being posted online.