Reddit is a place where people come together. Indeed it is Home to many of the largest and most active communities on the web, including thriving ones of course Communities that are almost exclusively committed to it every game, console and genre imaginable. Well, this collective, collaborationActive quality shows itself in a new way. r/placethe Reddit-based collaborative art project, is back with its third incarnation since the 2017 original, aAnd there couldn’t be a better time for disgruntled Reddit users fed up with the message board management shit. Since anyone can only place a single pixel every few minutes, it’s a collective anger that makes the result so ugly.
Last year at r/place, an incredible 10.4 million people contributed 160 million pixels to create an amazing and massive pixel art piece measuring 6000×6000 pixels. Somehow, meticulously detailed faces were created despite the limitations placed on the individual in conscious direct drawing. It was something strange and beautiful.
Jumping to 2023, times at Reddit aren’t nearly as happy. The introduction of fees for third party apps caused widespread outrage and in return a widespread outage as many subreddits remained dormant in protest of the decision. Several popular third-party applications such as Apollo and BaconReader have been abandoned due to API costs in the tens of millions and users are furious. This is the weirdest moment for Reddit to think that launching a new R/Place might be a good idea.
With what could best be described as “optimism,” Reddit released the new version stating, “But hey, what better time to present our communities with a blank canvas than when our users and mods are at their most passionate…right?”
Um, right. The results are predictable. “FUCK SPEZ” keeps reading much of the image, referencing Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, who has been particularly deaf in his response to the protests and anger. “There’s a lot of noise,” Huffman reportedly wrote in an employee note. “One of the loudest we’ve ever seen. Please be aware that our teams are in on it, and like all explosions on Reddit, this one will pass.” It was hardly the message Redditors were looking for.
Such feelings are expressed very clearly on screen. In German it currently says “U/SPEZ IST EIN HURENSON” at the top of the picture, which translates to “U/SPEZ IST EIN HURENSON”. Elsewhere there are the more standard depictions of Pepe, some My Little Ponies and even some Pikmin, but by far the most prominent and recurring motif is “FUCK SPEZ”.
Honestly, it’s hard to imagine what else Reddit has in store for. We contacted Reddit to ask what else they were expecting and if Huffman could listen to that noise.
