How WeRateDogs is fighting AI slop, one perfect puppy at a time
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Nelson’s company, WeRateDogs, is one of social media’s most successful dog-centric accounts, with some 20 million followers across X, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
PHOTO: MARK ABRAMSON/NYTIMES
Sarah Lyall
- WeRateDogs grew from a 2015 joke into a huge dog account with 20 million followers, merch, a podcast and a charity that has raised nearly US$5 million in 2026.
- Matt Nelson says the account will not use AI. He sees fake dog videos as harmful and says real dogs create a unique human bond.
- The team checks every post for real animals, rights and safety. Its charity, the 15/10 Foundation, has raised about US$14 million since 2021 and helped thousands of dogs.
AI generated
LOS ANGELES – Matt Nelson was not looking for fame, exactly, when he rated his first dog on Twitter in 2015. He just thought it would be funny to post a Yelp-style critique of a friend’s shepherd mix lounging on the stairs: “8/10 would pet,” he wrote in the caption.
Now he presides over a social media juggernaut.