#I was peak online back then 😭 writing my long posts channeling my highschool history student essay writing energy

[riacte]

I can’t believe it’s gonna be a year since 2022 r/place? Like what the hell lmao 😭

Honestly I don’t expect r/place to come back this year for Reddit’s yearly April Fools joke because it’ll be predictable and it hasn’t been five years yet… although they could possibly add a twist to it (like how 2022’s ended with a white void unlike 2017). But I know people have been speculating and digging into the code and have found “evidence”. Oh well.

In any case, some thoughts from someone who was very chronically online during 2022 r/place and wrote long update posts daily:

1. If you’re part of a fandom and want to contribute to a mural, it’s very likely that some sort of central organisation has been set up on the subreddit and / or on Discord. And you should probably check it out before you do anything about the mural.

Organisation and diplomacy is key to r/place. Just because you personally want to expand doesn’t mean the central organisation wants to because it risks angering allies. Last year I saw people getting frustrated over “rogues” not following the instructions determined by the central organisation, which threatened our harmonious coexistence with a much bigger group (in this case it was Brazil).

I’m not trying to gatekeep but it’s honestly easier if you do want the crowd wants you to do instead of doing it on your own. Especially if you’re a smallish fandom trying to survive.

2. As a follow up to the above point, instructions from central organisations are often fluid and change very quickly. This is due to the ever changing geopolitics of r/place. Allies can become enemies, enemies can become allies. But I think usually people are pretty good at spreading information around.

3. It can be quite easy to get sucked into the virtual world of r/place. I severely needed to touch grass after last year’s craziness. It can be fun, but it can also be very taxing, both mentally, emotionally, and physically (if you’re the type to stay up late). So remember to take care of yourself!

I genuinely think r/place is fascinating. It’s like a microcosm of the world, with its geopolitics, borders, alliances, creativity, and all of that is over pixels on Reddit. Everyone is so serious over unserious things. It’s also extremely funny when you hear stuff like “Love Live wants to nuke Macedonia” and “Sexy Sex requires our help”.

I also like how people have different recollections of this event because naturally people are in different subreddits, timezones, experience things differently, but it all comes together to form a collective story on r/place. And it’s crazy how long the impacts can last for. Like I still fondly think about those four-ish days when Reddit collectively lost their minds. It felt like a fever dream. Truly one of the experiences of all time.