The Button was Reddit’s April Fools’ Day 2015 social experiment: a countdown timer starting at 60 seconds that reset whenever someone pressed the button. The simple mechanic spawned complex social dynamics, religions, factions, and philosophical debates—running for 60 days before finally reaching zero June 5, 2015.
The Rules (April 1, 2015)
r/thebutton appeared April 1, 2015 with simple interface: 60-second countdown timer and one button. Rules:
- Each Reddit account (created before April 1) could press ONCE
- Pressing reset timer to 60 seconds
- Flair showed timestamp when you pressed (color-coded by time)
- If timer reached zero, experiment ended
That’s it. No other explanation. The minimalism drove millions to obsess over optimal strategy.
Factions & Philosophy
Communities formed around pressing philosophies:
Pressers: Those who pressed the button
- Purples (60-52s): Pressed immediately, considered impulsive
- Blues (51-42s): Moderately patient
- Greens (41-32s): Respectable restraint
- Yellows (31-22s): Impressive patience
- Oranges (21-12s): Elite tier
- Reds (11-1s): Gods among pressers
Non-Pressers: Refused to press, considering themselves pure/superior. Created r/NoColoreds (controversial name) and philosophy of button resistance.
The Shade: Accounts created after April 1—couldn’t press, observed from outside.
Can’t Pressers: Wanted to press but missed opportunity—tragic figures.
Emergent Behavior
The experiment revealed human nature:
- Teamwork: Groups coordinated to extend button life (Kn ights of the Button)
- Trolling: False alarms claiming button died
- Religion: Church of the Button, Button Atheists, various theologies
- Economics: Trading accounts, selling “presses”
- Data analysis: Live charts tracking press patterns, predicting end
- Existentialism: Philosophical debates about meaning, choice, mortality
The Final Press (June 5, 2015)
After 60 days and 1,008,316 total presses, the timer reached zero. User powerlanguage (Reddit employee) made final press. The button turned gray. The experiment ended.
The community mourned, celebrated, and debated: Did we extend the button too long? Should we have let it die naturally? What was the point?
Legacy & Meaning
The Button demonstrated:
- Social dynamics: How quickly hierarchies form from arbitrary rules
- FOMO: Fear of missing out drove impulsive early pressing
- Tribalism: Flair colors became identities, spawning prejudice
- Meaning-making: Humans create significance from meaningless activities
- Collective action: Millions coordinated to extend pointless timer
Academically, The Button became case study in online social experiments, game theory, and emergent behavior. Similar experiments followed (r/place 2017, 2022) but The Button’s purity—single button, single choice—remained unmatched.
r/thebutton remains archived—digital monument to 60 days when million+ Redditors obsessed over pressing button.
https://www.reddit.com/r/thebutton/ https://en.wikipedia.org/)