The four-day experiment that was r/place has ended, but those not as well-versed in Reddit culture may have been confused seeing "r/place" pop up in their Twitter feeds and as trending hashtagsfor the past while.
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This event is a social experiment, game, prank, and a microcosm of one of the strangest, but most ubiquitous, sites there is on the internet. Anyone who is curious can watch the event unfold in a time-lapse but may wish to understand some key points about the event.
This Is Not The First R/Place
R/place is nothing new and2022actually marked the second instance of the event. R/place was first introduced to Reddit on April Fool's Day in 2017 and looked pretty much the same as it did when the event again opened in 2022, except for this time, it quadrupled in size.
The idea of an April Fool's Day event on Reddit is even less unique. There have been a number of strange and interactive changes to the site that have occurred on this day in the past, but none lasted for more than a couple of days. Older users may remember a site-wide mandate to not push a button until a counter reached zero. This was not accomplished until June of that same year.
Only Reddit Users Can Play
In order to participate in r/place, one has to have a Reddit account. It doesn't matter how old you are and Reddit is free to join. To participate, each user is allowed to click one pixel on a square grid consisting of 4 million pixels and change to it any color they want. The catch: you can only click a pixel once every five minutes.
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What this means is that your work could easily be undone a dozen times over before you are able to re-click. The result of this is that in order to create a coherent picture, subreddits have to coordinate to make sure their users are clicking and coloring together so that their art does not get drawn over.
There Is A Limited Amount Of Space
4 million pixels may sound like a lot, but with 48 million active monthly users, real estate dries up quickly. The canvas quickly filled up at launch with different subreddits and discord groups working together to create their masterpieces.
Some communities spent the four days at war with neighbors vying for precious space to complete their pictures, both filling in their own colors and refilling stolen pixels. Others, like r/ireland and r/france worked together to create an intersecting and fluid border that made for a great piece of art.
Anything Goes
Just about any idea a user can dream up can be painted onto the canvas of r/place. There are memes, video game references, sport team logos, and even some high art. There are no administrators and the only policing is done by the users themselves.
This has certainly led to a number of NSFW creations in the timeline and in any time-lapses, older users may want to hide their children's eyes. However, the community has done an unprecedented job of removing offensive and obscene pictures before they begin. R/place is weird and goofy, but it may be an example of what responsible internet can look like.
Bots
Having multiple accounts on Reddit is something of a given for a lot of users. Sometimes it's for simple reasons, like using one account for certain subreddits and another for something else, making it easier to go back and look at submissions and comments. Other times, the purposes are a little more nefarious, such as boosting your own comment scores by "liking" one account from another.
Many users versed in computer programming are able to program their accounts to act on their own accord and click pixels so that multiple accounts are simultaneously working towards the same goal. This was a large issue in 2017 but Reddit admins said they had fixed the issue.But users likeSlimeria disagree, saying, "There was probably a lot of botting day 1 but just I hadn't noticed it, today it has been extremely obvious and rampant in many places."
The Void
Though it is not as obvious as on the first day of the event, "The Void" can still be seen in the final r/place canvas. The Void is the black-hole-like shape that appears to be eating all the art around it.
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The Void made its first appearance in 2017 and seemed to mindlessly select an area on the canvas and completely eradicate the picture with black dots until the victimized subreddit is forced to give up and move elsewhere. Some Reddit users hate the perpetrators of The Void and consider them trolls who are only interested in ruining the experience for others. But many others enjoy the randomness and energy the roving monster provides.
OSU!
OSU! is a fairly standard rhythm video game that has received unprecedented popularity and attention due to r/place. Any article about the event is sure to refer to OSU! and its presence on r/place. And it is easy enough to find, as it's the pink circle with "OSU!" in the center.
This rhythm game with its subreddit was one of the first completed pieces of art in both 2017 and 2022. And for some reason, more than most of the other communities, it has managed to stay present through multiple attacks from The Void and other subreddits encroaching on its space. It may be bots or it may be a highly committed band of users who just enjoy seeing the pink circle as a symbol of stability.
It Got Bigger Over Time
On day 1 of r/place 2022, it was the same 1000x1000 pixel square as it was in 2017. The start of the event was surprising enough for most Reddit users, but it wasn't until day 2 that things really changed. The canvas suddenly doubled in size and subreddits rushed to enlarge their art and some smaller subreddits saw a chance to put down a picture.
Then on day 3, the canvas doubled again, resulting in 4 million available pixels. This time, users were a little more ready and the white space quickly filled with secondary posts from subreddits, as well as new art.
Flags Everywhere
For a website that consists of many more subreddits than just those devoted to individual countries, there sure were a lot of flags taking up space on the r/place canvas. There were some obvious ones, like the canvas-spanning Ukraine flag that was well supported by everyone for much longer than usual. But even smaller subreddits managed to carve out a space for their flags.
One reason for this is how easy it is to coordinate a flag on the canvas. It's a symbol the entire subreddit can instantly agree on and recognize, making coordination that much easier.
The White Out
There was one final surprise planned by Reddit that no one saw coming. Around 8 pm on April 4th, the only color available to select on r/place became white and pixels began to be removed from the canvas. Within a couple of minutes, the entire canvas looked exactly like it did on April 1st when it opened, completely blank.
Many users were quick to post broken-hearted memes about the loss but many more appreciated the significance. RedditorxXProdigalXxsaid, "This is like one of those sand mandalas, kind of beautiful in a way." However people feel about it, there will be photos and time-lapses of the event for days to come for users and non-users alike to pour through.
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