Do not click this button: Reddit's ingenious social experiment
Internet monster Reddit came up with a April's Fools Day project to torment its users.
"The button", as it's called, is a simple button with a timer counting down from 60 seconds. Every time a user clicks the button, the timer resets for . That's it.
No one knows what happens when it gets to zero - because someone, somewhere, always and inevitably clicks it.
The result is an experiment that is equal parts mesmerising and frustrating.
"We can’t tell you what to do from here on out. The choice is yours", was the only instruction in the cryptic announcement from developers.
The timer hasn't even come close to zero yet - in fact, it's usually in the 50-second range (apart from a brief glitch for some people, which doesn't count).
Users who want to see what happens when the counter hits zero need users to cooperate, and not push the button. Which is easier said than done.
Reddit's community is now split into those with a desire to cooperate and overcome the human desire to push buttons – and those who want to keep the experiment running for as long as possible.
Since every user gets one click, and one click only (and only for accounts made before April 1), there's a limited number of people who can reset the timer.
Redditor twitchedawake summed up the problem very succinctly: there's always one who can't resist.
Essentially, Reddit has turned its users against each other in a battle that is impossible to win - since some day, that timer will hit zero - but is nonetheless fiercely fought.
It's not the first time Reddit has done this, as on a previous April Fool's Day they assigned every user to one of two coloured teams - orangered and periwinkle - which resulted in users from the opposite teams attempting to sabotage posts from the other.
So, ?
No-one knows. When it reaches zero, perhaps nothing will happen. Some users hope Reddit will publish data on human behaviour out of all this.
But until then,
