What is Reddit’s r/place? The history of the blank canvas social experiment
A lot of weird and wonderful things happen on Reddit.com. Over the years, the communities there have evolved—some for the better and some for the worse.
One of the more controversial communities spawned from Reddit is a long-time, beloved collaborative social experiment, r/place.
What is the original r/place?
In 2017, r/place presented a social experiment created by Josh Wardle (who went on to create Wordle). The instructions posted to r/place—also referred to as just "Place"—were as follows:
"There is an empty canvas. You may place a tile upon it, but you must wait to place another. Individually, you can create something. Together you can create something more."
You see, the open canvas allows any user to change a certain pixel on it—one at a time.
A timer on each pixel prevents repeated changes to any particular space (or spamming with other shapes). The timers vary, with intervals set between 5 and 20 minutes.
Users worked within a palette of just 16 colors to change the pixel to, leading to it looking like this:
Not only did native Redditors get in on the fun, but streamers encouraged their audiences to stake claim to pieces of the canvas.
For three days, the creativity bounded. Artists used pixel art to craft the Mona Lisa, the American flag, and other noteworthy symbols.
In a twist, the color options disappeared at the same time, leaving just white. Slowly, participants erased the entire canvas back to being blank.
How did r/place come back?
In 2022, r/place was resurrected. Some Redditors thought it was a joke because it was brought back on April Fools Day that year. This time, the experiment lasted three and a half days.
Twice during that time, the color palette expanded, allowing for creativity to go the distance.
This time, there were more parties coordinating the effort to bring the colorful canvas to life. Over 10 million users worked to change the canvas in an astonishing show of community.
Ultimately, the end came the same way it did the first time, with users being limited to just white pixels. However tough it is to cover up the art, many described how significant it was to see the canvas return to white.
When did r/place end?
Reddit gave r/place one more go in July 2023, amid controversy at Reddit. Changes in the company left many Redditors frustrated with the site. The hope was that it would be an event that would bring the Reddit community together, but that wasn't the case.
As is art's tendency, it reflected the raw emotions of the users, and they were pissed. Many users worked together to repeatedly spam the canvas with the message, "F*** Spez," a.k.a. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman.
Moderators do have the ability to remove explicit content, but the back-and-forth with users presented a challenge. The messaging still appears in the final look at the canvas. The palette was expanded six times during the five-day experiment.
On August 1, the following message was posted by an admin to r/place:
This community will no longer be open for posting or commenting. Thank you to everyone who participated in r/place 2023. Until we meet again. <3
r/place memes
Throughout r/place's ups and downs, it inspires the Reddit community to create memes:
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