Atrocity tourism

Atrocity tourism is a phrase commonly used to describe the practice of travelling to historical landmarks which commemorate striking acts of inhumanity. Nazi's Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, Thailand's Death Railway, Rwanda's massacre sites, and Montana's Little Big Horn Battlefield are example monuments trafficked by these atrocity tourists. These sites owe their popularity to the appalling history and images displayed there. In a direct parallel, and for the same reasons, many objectionable Internet sites and pages are today well known as atrocity tourist destinations. In this medium, atrocity tourism is the practice of intentionally visiting websites or viewing artwork that the viewer finds objectionable.

Atrocity tourism and furry

While not restricted to the furry fandom, a striking amount of online atrocity tourism has revolved around furry-related websites and material. This often invites exaggerated and unfavorable comparisons between the works of furry artists or webmasters, and massacre or genocide. Those partaking in tourism regard these comparisons as black humor. As such, this activity has been categorized by many furries as anti-furry. Of course, furries also partake in this.

Many websites and blogs function as travel agencies for Internet atrocity tourism:

• Portal of Evil
• Something Awful and its Awful Link of the Day
• Crush Yiff Destroy
• 4chan and particularly /b/
• Drama Awesome, Furbid Horrors, Furrydrama_2, Gayfaggotinc, SL Horrors, and VCL Horrors LiveJournal communities
• Encyclopedia Dramatica

Of interesting note, all agents which primarily focus on the fandom (Horrors groups and CYD, for example) are largely run by and used by furries or artists close to the fandom.