PepitoTheCat
Type of site
Twitter account
Available inEnglish
OwnerClément Storck
URLtwitter.com/pepitothecat
LaunchedJuly 2011 (2011-07)
Current statusOnline

@PepitoTheCat is a Twitter account operated by a French user named Clément Storck which sends an automated message when his cat, Pépito, leaves or returns to his house. A device monitors Pépito's movements through a cat door. The account sends a message reading "Pépito is out" if it detects him leaving or "Pépito is back home" if he comes back, along with a photo and timestamp. Since Storck created the account in 2011, it has amassed over 932 thousand followers.[1]

History

Pépito is a black cat owned by Clément Storck, a software engineer who lives in Paris. He was born in 2007 to the pet of one of Storck's friends, and was gifted to Storck when he was four months old.[2]

Storck created a website called PushingBox which can be used to send notifications triggered by real-life events, such as the opening of a door or the ringing of a doorbell. In July 2011, he used the same software to create an automated Twitter account called @PepitoTheCat. Storck used a device to detect when Pépito has used the cat door and positioned a surveillance camera on it. The account sends a message reading "Pépito is out" if he is detected leaving him or "Pépito is back home" when he comes back, along with a photo and timestamp.[2][3] After 2012, a different cat door was used and the account switched from French to English.[4] When Storck moved to Paris in 2015, Pépito remained at his parents' house. By November 2016, the account had 18 thousand followers.[2] In the rare occasions that the account is not regularly updated, his followers have posted about their distress online.[2][5]

On 2 February 2023, Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced that it would no longer support free access to the application programming interface (API) starting 9 February, which third-party developers and automated accounts rely on. However, Musk considered giving innocuous automated accounts with verification access after Storck tweeted in protest of the decision.[6] The account's followers increased from over 211 thousand followers around this time to 565 thousand by July 2023, to 952 thousand by November 2023.[1][6]

References

  1. 1 2 Storck, Clément (July 2011). "Pépito (@PepitoTheCat)". Twitter. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Tierney, Allison (29 November 2016). "Why Pépito the Cat Is More Famous Than You". Vice. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  3. ↑ Bryan, Chloe (15 March 2016). "Responsible French cat always tells the Internet when he leaves the house". Mashable. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  4. ↑ Hathaway, Jay (15 March 2016). "Twitter bot shows you the comings and goings of Pepito the French cat". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  5. ↑ Evangelista, Raphael; Krishna, Rachael (13 June 2017). "A Cat With A Twitter Account Went Missing And Basically All Of Brazil Freaked Out". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 Leffer, Lauren (6 February 2023). "Elon Musk Says Actually 'Good' Bots Can Stay on Twitter for Free". Gizmodo. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
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