If you have visited Reddit’s gigantic community project r/place in the last few days, you may have come across the phrase “Fuck spez“. But what has u/spez done that countless users have conspired against him?
What kind of project is this? From July 20 to July 25, 2023, the third edition of the popular Reddit event r/place took place. It is an interactive canvas where users can collaboratively create huge artworks pixel by pixel.
r/place was already a great success in 2017 and 2022 with millions of involved users, but in 2023, the signs were different. The mood on the “homepage of the internet” is bad since changes to the API system led several third-party providers to discontinue their alternatives to the official Reddit app.
More colorful pixels can be found in our video:
Reddit users leave a farewell message
Which man is being talked about? The anger of the Reddit users is directed at the CEO of the platform, Steve Huffman. He goes by the username u/spez on Reddit. Already in the post announcing the return of r/place, users expressed their frustration.
How are users protesting? After the blackout that paralyzed many subreddits for several days and a flood of memes with late-night host John Oliver, users found new ways to protest against the changes with r/place and literally gave Huffman the middle finger.
Countless posts in the official subreddit for r/place contain the words “Fuck u/spez”. But the users took it a step further.
The space on the interactive canvas is usually fiercely contested, but to express their dissatisfaction, various communities worked together. They created a huge inscription that unmistakably communicates to the Reddit CEO what they think of him.
As r/place slowly came to an end on the night of July 26 and the canvas was returned to its original state with white pixels, users came together one last time to leave a farewell message to u/spez.
We have included a complete time-lapse of the event here. Towards the end, the entire canvas is taken up by a huge “Fuck Spez” before everything turns white.
How do users feel about the event? Reddit users seem to view this year’s r/place with mixed feelings. Because even though epic battles were fought again and impressive artworks were created, there remains a somewhat bland aftertaste.
Some have the impression that the popular event was brought back to distract from the unpopular changes and to lift the mood. Nevertheless, it has not completely missed its effect, as this year’s r/place was certainly entertaining (via Reddit).
For Twitch streamers, r/place is a way to pixel together with their fans, to immortalize themselves on the canvas … and to let their communities compete against each other in massive battles. This year, no one passed by the German Twitch streamer Papaplatte:
