Millions of Reddit users collaborated on a public artwork hosted by the platform for the third time on July 20. Indian users of the platform also joined in, adding the country’s symbols and achievements to the massive virtual canvas. Reddit had announced on July 19 that it would be bringing back r/place the following day, breaking the pattern of being active on April 1. The announcement was met with negative backlash from many users, who criticized Reddit CEO Steve Huffman in the wake of a controversy over access to Reddit’s API.
This year, India’s UPI logo and digital tree were present for the second time, while ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 was also part of the canvas.
The Indian Tricolour, tribute to Japan for 1993 animated film ‘Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama‘ and Indian fighter jets also graced r/space.
The theme that resonated with Indian Reddit users was the portrayal of India as a place where science and spirituality meet.
The collaborative project and social experiment was first hosted by Reddit on April Fools’ Day in 2017. It was praised for creating a sense of collectivism and uniting internet users from around the world by giving them a common canvas to showcase their talent.
The 2022 edition of the experiment caused Reddit’s daily active users to reach an all-time high.
Reddit’s r/Place is a subreddit that functions as an open canvas (1000*1000), where each user can post a single, small, colored pixel every five minutes.
Under last year’s rules, each user was given the option to add only one tile to the canvas every five minutes, making it impossible for anyone to build the entire canvas on their own. The five minute gap was added to prevent anyone from dominating the canvas.
The artwork was available to anyone who visited Reddit. Those without an account could only see the canvas and couldn’t add anything to it.
Featured video of the day
swindled 15,000 Indians for Rs 700 Crore; Fraudsters have China, terror links