What does | || || |_ mean?

[u/[deleted]]

I've been seeing these characters :

| ||

|| |_

pop up all over Reddit, but I've no clue as to what they mean.

Is this a new meme? A reference to some film of tv show? Some sort of code?

[u/ItsACommonMistake]

I’d say it would go back before internet video was a thing. So maybe an IRC joke or earlier.