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r/thebutton

Archive of the experiment where one button and one click each spawned genuine factions, martyrs and a working theology within days.

Opens in a new tab. We do not control this site and it may have changed since we catalogued it.

How to get the most from it

r/thebutton sits in Crowd Experiments under Weird, filed as coffee break.

  • Set aside five to fifteen minutes and give it your proper attention.
  • It works on a phone or a desktop, so open it on whatever is nearest.
  • It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
  • No account needed — you can start without signing up.
  • Go in expecting something weird and clever.

About this category: Shared spaces where everyone acts at once. Sometimes it becomes art, usually it becomes a mess, and the mess is the interesting part.

Good for

  • Filling a coffee break properly
  • Seeing the internet at its least explicable
  • Being impressed by a clever idea
  • A quiet break at your desk
  • Killing time on your phone
  • Trying it with zero commitment

r/thebutton: quick answers

Is r/thebutton free?

Yes. r/thebutton is free to use and needs no account.

Do I need an account to use r/thebutton?

No. You can use r/thebutton without signing up for anything.

Does r/thebutton work on a phone?

Yes. r/thebutton works on phones as well as desktop browsers.

Is r/thebutton safe for work?

Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.

How long does r/thebutton take?

We file it as "Coffee break": Five to fifteen minutes of proper attention.

More in Crowd Experiments

All 13 in Crowd Experiments

Same mood: weird

All weird sites
  • One button, one random inhabited spot on Earth in Street View, most of them somewhere nobody would ever have chosen to look.

  • Blows one image up into a multi-page halftone poster that you print at home and tape across an entire wall.

    • 10 min
    • Desktop
  • Leaves a trail of emoji behind your cursor. There is nothing more to it than that, and nothing more is needed.

    • <1 min
    • Desktop
  • A hundred yes-or-no questions about things you may have done, counted downward from 100. A student rite of passage since the 1980s.

    • 2 min
    • Not at work

Keep exploring

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