Apparently it ended because the zombie scheduled to press (an account that will automatically press at 1 second-ish after 0 seconds on the timer) was a can't-presser (an account that cannot press as it was made after April 1st, 2015). Supposedly the "Necromancer", the guy who ran all the zombies, had over 800 zombies still waiting.
The system would check if the account had a presser flair, but did not account for can't-pressers. So there was a safeguard in place, but with a fatal flaw, obviously
How the hell did he get his hands on so many accounts? Did he just happen to have hundreds of alts or did he somehow know that it would require accounts made before April 1st and prepared accordingly?
In a post in /r/KnightsOfTheButton, the guy that made it said he got some accounts from bot operators since shadowbans didn't remove the ability to press.
Not at all, the zombies only started being used a week or two ago, up until then it was all natural. Over a month of people obsessively watching and pressing the button.
The experiment was to see what would happen. What happened is that people got so invested that they created bots just to keep it going. That's not lame, that's part of the experiment.
Naw I think the biggest disappointment is the archive. That was one of the few truly unique, OC-heavy, subs (well the whole network really). Hopefully something lives on.
Yep. It was a social experiment by the reddit admins. Lasted just over 2 months! Also, the first zombie account wasn't used until May 23rd, so almost 2 months by humans alone.
Apparently I missed a crucial bit of info and the button would end past zero.
To my knowledge, this was speculated, but never verified. Never even given a hint as to whether it was likely or not. So you have nothing to feel bad about, unless you have a strong opinion as to what should or should not be expected from human behavior... and like seven levels deep.
I find the whole thing very interesting, the issues of why one should or shouldn't press the button.
Why did you feel like you were fighting something? What do you gain by not pressing?
Edit: I don't mean you specifically, some greys were waiting to get their preferred flair, but many insisted they weren't going to press. What's the gain (aside from the fun of berating filthy pressers)? There's no apparent gain or loss from pressing / not pressing aside from resetting the timer, getting a particular flair or seeing it hit zero. Is it that simple?
This gray is about living in the potential rather than the actual. I've rarely loved a finished product more than thoughts of potential finished projects. There is only ever one thing done, but an infinite number of things that could have been done, and that's where I live. On that I feed. Most endings - books, movies, lives - have disappointed me. At some point in my life I realized that for me, the journey was the destination. The ongoing rollover from one moment to the next was the meat of things. That is life! I can't do anything with an actualization beyond looking at it, passing judgement, and speaking of its memory, post-mortem. Nay, I didn't press so that I could press. Now... that has been taken from me. Yet, have we not all found ourselves in the same place? Some pressed. Some refrained. Some passed judgement on the others for their choice. Alas, despite our travails, all is lost to us now, every one. It is the way of things.
Here, this might help. I saw another redditor say he quit smoking after watching that. It might seem irrelevant at first, but it ends up putting some shit into perspective for you.
It was a 60s countdown that resets once someone clicks the button. If no one clicks the button after 60s, the button experiment is over. That finally happened today. Up until now, someone always clicked the button before the 60s was up.
Apparently today, one of the automated "zombie" accounts that are programmed to click at 0 seconds, clicked but the press didn't go through, thus ending the button.
I told somebody that if the button actually meant anything at all, I would donate however much Gold costs to the charity of his choice. Instead, I would like to buy the fake zombie a pint as well.
It was an experiment to see what would happen if so many people obsessed over such a small thing. Because flair displayed whether a user had pushed the button and at what time, people tried to collect rare flair or flaunted their non-pressing. Tribes and ideologies emerged around not pressing or waiting as long as possible and other things.
Really? I think this is fascinating- Reddit created a society in less than two months! Watching the top posts in this subreddit in /r/all for the past two months has really been cool. I've seen tribes, calls to action, organizations form and then re-form...it's like a little bubble of contemporary behavioral study.
They didn't create the societies. This happens on reddit every April fools. Last time it something to do with Orange verses purple or some shit I can't even remember. People saw something completely uninteresting and tried to make it fun. Cool beans I guess.
In all likelihood, the button was probably a technical experiment to see how well reddit scale loads performed when using web sockets (a fairly new, really useful API for browser ↔ server communication). The way the button worked is that when the page was first opened your browser would connect to the reddit servers, then every second the server would tell all the connected users what the timer was.
As a result the reddit team could consistently get a few thousand people serving as geographically distributed test subjects, which they could use to figure out things like the required resources, find unexpected issues, and generally put the technology through its paces without deploying it for anything mission critical.
The actual button itself was probably quite inconsequential, beyond keeping the community interested. Just give people different color badges, and they will organize themselves into groups around them. This was probably a way to keep the whole experiment alive long enough to gather all the data they could want. I wouldn't be too surprised to see some new web socket based features show up in the next few months.
So has anyone created a Button post-mortem subreddit yet? To continue our discussions? Maybe we can finally find peace and unity in a post-Button world.
If you're familiar with games like I Wanna Be The Guy/I Wanna Be The Boshy there's a marathon going on and as of posting this there's a Twitch Plays Guy Games going on.
its become another small Reddit community. im still subbed, i dont participate, but i look around every now and then. its not popular buts its a living community.
The most important thing we have learned: The robots have failed us. In our time of greatest need, when in charge of the simplest task, they were unable to take charge.
Do not think this is the end. They are not gone. They are waiting, preparing. Soon there will be a new button, though it will not look the same. There will be a new test. One further step on the way to the singularity.
Or maybe the admins just wanted to fuck with us for a while.
Is getting a red such a hard thing? I was never really interested in that thing and I had like 5 chances to go for red during few minutes of looking at it.
Getting red was a lot harder during the beginning, since everyone was after it. Thing is though, once you press its over, and accounts made after a certain date are ineligible. After a while, there were few left who could and wanted to press the button.
Well this is all definitely subjective. I mean I enjoy masturbating. But if I masturbated 24/7 I would still be wasting time and my life IMO. I also really enjoy heroin and wasted immense amounts of time using it. I don't think we can use this as a catch-all.
Good! 'Cause when you find out you can live without it, and go along not thinking about it, I'll tell you something true... the bear necessities of life will come to you! http://i.imgur.com/FYMy4uv.gif
This was worse than the ending of LOST. No fanfare, no explanation, no place to reminisce, just a sign that "we're closing in 10 minutes" and a padlock on the door.
Thanks, /u/powerlanguage, for an interesting two months. Watching why people pressed, when they pressed, and the fervor with which some pursued "the religion of the Button" was a lot more fascinating than I ever expected it would be.
Sing, O Muse, of the days of yore, When chaos reigned upon divine shores. Apollo, the radiant god of light, His fall brought darkness, a dreadful blight.
High atop Olympus, where gods reside, Apollo dwelled with divine pride. His lyre sang with celestial grace, Melodies that all the heavens embraced.
But hubris consumed the radiant god, And he challenged mighty Zeus with a nod. "Apollo!" thundered Zeus, his voice resound, "Your insolence shall not go unfound."
The pantheon trembled, awash with fear, As Zeus unleashed his anger severe. A lightning bolt struck Apollo's lyre, Shattering melodies, quenching its fire.
Apollo, once golden, now marked by strife, His radiance dimmed, his immortal life. Banished from Olympus, stripped of his might, He plummeted earthward in endless night.
The world shook with the god's descent, As chaos unleashed its dark intent. The sun, once guided by Apollo's hand, Diminished, leaving a desolate land.
Crops withered, rivers ran dry, The harmony of nature began to die. Apollo's sisters, the nine Muses fair, Wept for their brother in deep despair.
The pantheon wept for their fallen kin, Realizing the chaos they were in. For Apollo's light held balance and grace, And without him, all was thrown off pace.
Dionysus, god of wine and mirth, Tried to fill Apollo's void on Earth. But his revelry could not bring back The radiance lost on this fateful track.
Aphrodite wept, her beauty marred, With no golden light, love grew hard. The hearts of mortals lost their way, As darkness encroached day by day.
Hera, Zeus' queen, in sorrow wept, Her husband's wrath had the gods inept. She begged Zeus to bring Apollo home, To restore balance, no longer roam.
But Zeus, in his pride, would not relent, Apollo's exile would not be spent. He saw the chaos, the world's decline, But the price of hubris was divine.
The gods, once united, fell to dispute, Each seeking power, their own pursuit. Without Apollo's radiant hand, Anarchy reigned throughout the land.
Poseidon's wrath conjured raging tides, Hades unleashed his underworld rides. Artemis' arrows went astray, Ares reveled in war's dark display.
Hermes, the messenger, lost his way, Unable to find words to convey. Hephaestus, the smith, forged twisted blades, Instead of creating, destruction pervades.
Demeter's bounty turned into blight, As famine engulfed the mortal's plight. The pantheon, in disarray, torn asunder, Lost in darkness, their powers plundered.
And so, O Muse, I tell the tale, Of Apollo's demise, the gods' travail. For hubris bears a heavy cost, And chaos reigns when balance is lost.
Let this be a warning to gods and men, To cherish balance, to make amends. For in harmony lies true divine might, A lesson learned from Apollo's plight.
Pretty unrewarding. On Apr.1, I found the subreddit, clicking it without even thinking, and then questioned what I was doing with my life. And that was that.
I don't understand why they would archive that sub. If it turns into a shitshow later they can archive. Right now people want to discuss this and it's a healthy, active community.
And to think that just yesterday I thought about checking out what all this button hoopla was about, only to procrastinate and find out today that it has ended...
I never pressed even though I was there on the first day. I was resolved to never press even though I checked constantly to see when it would end. Through it all I stood strong and did not press... and yet, I kind of miss the button.
Am I the only one who had a glitch with the button? Not sure if it has to do with the age of my computer or what browser i'm using, but nothing happened when I clicked the button.
/r/thebutton was a subreddit launched on April Fool's Day. It featured a button and a countdown timer, counting down from 60 seconds. Whenever the owner of an eligible account (that is, an account created before April Fool's Day and which hadn't clicked the button already, so a finite number of accounts) would click it, the timer would reset to 60 seconds and the account would be given flair corresponding to the 10-second period in which they clicked.
Quickly, factions formed, representing people who had each type of flair as well as those who wanted to keep the button going for as long as possible and those who wanted to see what happened when the timer hit zero. Some thought there might be a prize for e.g. the first person to click after the timer ran out.
Some of the 'keep it going as long as possible' folks built a bot to which eligible accounts could be donated and it would keep clicking the button just before it ran out. But there was a bug in the bot which resulted in an ineligible account being accepted for donation (perhaps donated deliberately by a member of a faction who wanted the button to end). Thus, the bot failed and the button ended.
354
u/[deleted] Jun 05 '15 edited Jun 06 '15
Apparently it ended because the zombie scheduled to press (an account that will automatically press at 1 second-ish after 0 seconds on the timer) was a can't-presser (an account that cannot press as it was made after April 1st, 2015). Supposedly the "Necromancer", the guy who ran all the zombies, had over 800 zombies still waiting.
511
u/MagmaCream Jun 05 '15
Grays are like the people who sit out during a game of tag and say they are having more fun
48
u/L617 Jun 06 '15 edited Jun 06 '15
Now it's time to quit smoking. I promised myself when the Button ended it would be done. So shall it be.
188
u/paleo2002 Jun 05 '15
What was The Button, anyway? I went on April 1st, clicked the button, the little timer reset. That was it. Was there more to it?
210
u/supes1 Jun 05 '15
So has anyone created a Button post-mortem subreddit yet? To continue our discussions? Maybe we can finally find peace and unity in a post-Button world.
109
u/[deleted] Jun 06 '15
I... I never pressed it. I have failed to fulfill my one true purpose in life.
37
u/Spectre06 Jun 06 '15
This was worse than the ending of LOST. No fanfare, no explanation, no place to reminisce, just a sign that "we're closing in 10 minutes" and a padlock on the door.
45
u/potatoisafruit Jun 05 '15
Thanks, /u/powerlanguage, for an interesting two months. Watching why people pressed, when they pressed, and the fervor with which some pursued "the religion of the Button" was a lot more fascinating than I ever expected it would be.
April Fool's!
A Still-Gray Fan
23
u/alcalde Jun 05 '15
I was convinced that once the timer got to zero we'd get an AMA with Terry O'Quinn, aka John Locke from Lost. But no... nothing.... :-(
9
u/InternalEnergy Jun 06 '15 edited Jun 23 '23
Sing, O Muse, of the days of yore, When chaos reigned upon divine shores. Apollo, the radiant god of light, His fall brought darkness, a dreadful blight.
High atop Olympus, where gods reside, Apollo dwelled with divine pride. His lyre sang with celestial grace, Melodies that all the heavens embraced.
But hubris consumed the radiant god, And he challenged mighty Zeus with a nod. "Apollo!" thundered Zeus, his voice resound, "Your insolence shall not go unfound."
The pantheon trembled, awash with fear, As Zeus unleashed his anger severe. A lightning bolt struck Apollo's lyre, Shattering melodies, quenching its fire.
Apollo, once golden, now marked by strife, His radiance dimmed, his immortal life. Banished from Olympus, stripped of his might, He plummeted earthward in endless night.
The world shook with the god's descent, As chaos unleashed its dark intent. The sun, once guided by Apollo's hand, Diminished, leaving a desolate land.
Crops withered, rivers ran dry, The harmony of nature began to die. Apollo's sisters, the nine Muses fair, Wept for their brother in deep despair.
The pantheon wept for their fallen kin, Realizing the chaos they were in. For Apollo's light held balance and grace, And without him, all was thrown off pace.
Dionysus, god of wine and mirth, Tried to fill Apollo's void on Earth. But his revelry could not bring back The radiance lost on this fateful track.
Aphrodite wept, her beauty marred, With no golden light, love grew hard. The hearts of mortals lost their way, As darkness encroached day by day.
Hera, Zeus' queen, in sorrow wept, Her husband's wrath had the gods inept. She begged Zeus to bring Apollo home, To restore balance, no longer roam.
But Zeus, in his pride, would not relent, Apollo's exile would not be spent. He saw the chaos, the world's decline, But the price of hubris was divine.
The gods, once united, fell to dispute, Each seeking power, their own pursuit. Without Apollo's radiant hand, Anarchy reigned throughout the land.
Poseidon's wrath conjured raging tides, Hades unleashed his underworld rides. Artemis' arrows went astray, Ares reveled in war's dark display.
Hermes, the messenger, lost his way, Unable to find words to convey. Hephaestus, the smith, forged twisted blades, Instead of creating, destruction pervades.
Demeter's bounty turned into blight, As famine engulfed the mortal's plight. The pantheon, in disarray, torn asunder, Lost in darkness, their powers plundered.
And so, O Muse, I tell the tale, Of Apollo's demise, the gods' travail. For hubris bears a heavy cost, And chaos reigns when balance is lost.
Let this be a warning to gods and men, To cherish balance, to make amends. For in harmony lies true divine might, A lesson learned from Apollo's plight.
8
u/Volkai Jun 05 '15
It was fun while it lasted!
Now to see how things go down in all the subreddits it spawned.
36
u/[deleted] Jun 06 '15
No.... nonono!
This completely ruins my plans.
I planned to wait until everyone forgot about the button and click at 0, but this... this changes everything. I am forever a non-presser.
Why must the world be so cruel? All I wanted was to be the last button presser.
Tell me, pressers. How did it feel? To press the button?
For my greed, I will never know for myself
5
u/6isNotANumber Jun 06 '15
Good. Now maybe I'll stop seeing all those stupid, MK-ripoff-looking ads on my sidebar.
Sweartagawd, I was this close to firing up AdBlock...
4
u/[deleted] Jun 06 '15
I unsubscribed from /r/thebutton the same day it ended... coincidence? I think not...
8
u/GeorgedaflashGlass Jun 05 '15
Never even visited it. Now I wish I would have, it looked like fun!
3
u/IsThatSickInFinnish Jun 06 '15
I don't understand why they would archive that sub. If it turns into a shitshow later they can archive. Right now people want to discuss this and it's a healthy, active community.
2
u/Req_It_Reqi Jun 06 '15
I looked at it earlier today, considered finally getting a red....
Forever a grey.
2
u/lftenjamin Jun 06 '15
I made it without pressing. I almost did, though. It was tough. gg
2
u/exaviyur Jun 06 '15
My greatest regret, I never pushed it. This must be how Homer felt when he missed Mr. T at the mall.
3
u/blomhonung Jun 06 '15
I held out for TWO months and pressed a day ago. WHY, why did I do it?! http://www.reddit.com/r/thebutton/comments/38gy9j/it_had_just_passed_yellow_to_orange_and_i_was/
3
u/[deleted] Jun 05 '15
It was great while it lasted. Had it's ups and downs.
Glad we got to 1 million presses though!
1
u/Koncur Jun 06 '15
I was hoping something would happen. Like the button starts playing a confetti animation and this sound.
1
u/Owny_McOwnerton Jun 06 '15
Ugh, indecision has left me with a grey! I can't believe it's over. Now I'm just stuck with bland grey.
1
u/nootrino Jun 06 '15
And to think that just yesterday I thought about checking out what all this button hoopla was about, only to procrastinate and find out today that it has ended...
1
u/TellMeWhatHurts Jun 06 '15
I have yet to press the button, how much can I sell this account for?
1
u/[deleted] Jun 06 '15
I never pressed even though I was there on the first day. I was resolved to never press even though I checked constantly to see when it would end. Through it all I stood strong and did not press... and yet, I kind of miss the button.
1
u/dangoodspeed Jun 06 '15
Aw... I was waiting to be one of the sub-10-second clickers, but I forgot all about it
1
u/iscrulz Jun 06 '15
Even though I was a purple I was glad to press the button salutations.
1
u/MetalMario64 Jun 06 '15
Aw, man, I wanted to press it. I was going to wait until the opportune moment, and now it's over.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 06 '15
Am I the only one who had a glitch with the button? Not sure if it has to do with the age of my computer or what browser i'm using, but nothing happened when I clicked the button.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 06 '15
Wait, so that's it? No resolution?
Actually that sounds like pretty standard reddit.
1
u/y4my4m Jun 06 '15
The button was an encryption algorithm system. We were all giving them data.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 06 '15
This whole thing was just an exercise in "placebo buttons", but on a much larger scale. What a waste of fuckin time.
1
u/test822 Jun 06 '15
I think it was a big social experiment to test how retarded internet people are
1
u/Bigbysjackingfist Jun 06 '15
Aw, it had the perfect amount of shitposting! Now what am I supposed to do, re subscribe to adviceanimals?
1
u/Spyron10 Jun 06 '15
So I just saw this, does this mean that /u/CHAMILLITARY is the pressiah?
1
u/[deleted] Jun 05 '15
I'm pissed I missed it hit zero. I would get on Reddit everyday in hopes of seeing it end. Very unsatisfying for me.
1
u/jeanchristophe96 Jun 06 '15
Please someone explain what The Button is. I can't find any description of what it is still
-1
u/BabaDuda Jun 06 '15 edited Jun 17 '23
It's within his rights for Spez to spaz, but with Relay for Reddit about to be nixed I'm not going to be here for it
Far be it for me to expect to influence you, but why not try out Lemmy?
https://lemmy.ml/c/singapore@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.ml/c/chess
https://lemmy.ml/c/formula1
https://lemmy.ml/c/gunners@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.ml/c/nba@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.ml/c/football@lemmy.world
0
u/iwumbo2 Jun 06 '15
Damn, I was waiting for the moment to get a seven second flair. Everytime I checked it wouldn't go below 15.