If you’re a denizen of the internet, chances are you’ve heard of Imgur. It’s an image hosting service that started as a way for reddit users to share their own pictures on the site. Since then, it has developed into its own social media platform, complete with inside-jokes, memes and a sense of community. Normally, the front page of the site is full of uplifting images, dynamic scenery and a corgi butt or two. Today, usersub is flooded with the stuff nightmares are made of, like human-cow hybrids and Thomas the tank engine made of human parts. Currently, the top post with nearly 200,000 views involves shirtless chibi Hitler and Stalin. Why on a completely normal Saturday has imgur lost its damn mind?
Usersub, or User Submitted, is where anyone can post to Imgur. If enough people view the piece and vote on it, eventually it will reach the home page of the site. On July 29, 2016, users of the site decided that they would upvote every single image that’s posted to the sub, no matter what it was. A lot of Imgurians don’t dive deep into the weird parts of the site, choosing to spend their time on the aggregated content pushed to the front page. Those users have no idea what weird stuff gets posted to Imgur, the underbelly of the site full of NSFW content that no sane person would want to see.
The site was flooded with the weirdest stuff the internet could offer. From shitposts to gross-out gore, imgur was flooded with upvotes for crappy content. This picture of a duck testing to see “how far a post with no value using an outdated meme will get in terms of upvotes” had over 16,000 upvotes and has been seen over 6 million times. There’s no rhyme or reason behind any of this madness, it’s just a bunch of imgurian trolls who wanted to see how far the envelope could be pushed. There were also a ton of parrots, because why the fuck not?
Jump a year ahead and imgur users are continuing the tradition. Odd photoshops of Wolverine with tiny arms are alongside normal stuff like close-ups of dogs and Flintstones cosplay. Last year, the front page was littered with gory and inappropriate images, which thankfully hasn’t been happening this year. The imgur mods are working over time, making sure that these terrible eyesores don’t implode the website. Still, that hasn’t stopped people from sharing, with a few viewing a deleted post as a badge of honor.
Like r/place , it’s another internet social experiment, this time created by users. The internet is a fascinating place where millions of people can access instant information. It’s also a place where weirdos who spend all day searching for tentacle Hentai can find other weirdos to spend their virtual time with. Imgurians wanted the site to know what would happen if there were no gatekeepers, if upvotes didn’t matter and every post was viewed equally. Imagine if that gif of a cat playing with a yarn was paired alongside Goatse?
If you want to see some weird pictures and imgurians celebrating almost nationalistic pride for a website, head over to the site. But be warned – on July 29, anything goes. If your day didn’t need to see some truly peculiar oddities, just stick to Buzzfeed.
