Intention

One of the most widespread examples of animism are mascots and famous characters. For instance, Gudetama is anthropomorphized as a lazy egg and even becomes Prime Minister of Japan in the animated series on Netflix. Therefore, making my socket into a 'character' would be the most straightforward and effective ways of achieving animism. 

 One of the most defining features of a socket is how the holes look like a face. The expression differs depending on socket type.  This is known as 'pareidolia' or "the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern" (Merriam Webster).

The socket I had was Type B, which to me looked like a surprised ":o" face.  Capitalizing on this face-like quality, as well as its the small round body and the tail-like cable, my goal was to make  the socket cute and endearing. Similar to how a child will not only talk their their toys, but also make their toys respond to them, I wanted the socket to be something capable of responding to the person interacting with it, thus the 'Socket Pet' was born.