- The WallStreetBets subreddit is exploding in popularity.
- The culture of the forum is facing an identity crisis with its growth.
- Some want subreddit to be a hub for risky marketers, while some newer users just want memes.
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WallStreetBets, the Reddit forum that recently pushed GameStop’s unlikely stock through collective action, is divided after a flurry of new users joined the subreddit in the past few tumultuous weeks amid growing attention. As markets fluctuated and the price of GameStop fell, from $ 325 on January 29 to $ 61 on February 8, WallStreetBets members struggled to come to terms with a single ethos for the community that previously displayed work of impressive staff.
In less than a month, WallStreetBets gained 6 million subscribers, became the center of traditional media attention, had a Super Bowl ad and dealt with a moderator coup. Now, he is struggling to find an identity for the future.
Some members of WallStreetBets are trying to understand why the community failed to keep the GameStop hype alive
Over the weekend, WallStreetBets users trying to come to terms with Gamestop’s under $ 100 stock flooded the subreddit. Some tried to understand why their campaign to raise the price in the long run did not work. Others discussed their frustration with the way Robinhood stopped trading GameStop shares, causing the price to plummet. Some posters even came to accept the fact that perhaps the plan to bring down Wall Street by holding “stocks of memes” was never a viable plan.
“Stop saying it didn’t work, it would never work, we got greedy, we got stupid and all the other self-delusions to make you feel better,” wrote user Effective War.
“You guys are really crazy. We have no problems with the stock,” wrote user OlyBamaye. “We have a problem with YOU.”
An iconic figure on WallStreetBets was silent
Keith Gill, known on Reddit as DeepF – Value and one of the creators of the GameStop stock meme, also took a step back from the sub. Throughout the year 2020, the user posted daily updates of his earnings from meme purchases, turning him into a kind of figurehead in the community. His last daily update was on February 3 and the next day the news that Gill was being investigated for his work as a financial advisor and that he could be asked to testify in Congress. Its absence from the submarine left users concerned and nostalgic for the gains of GME.
“In honor of finally seeing the almighty u / deepf – value. We must now do our part in having it written in the history books as the greatest that WallStreetBets has ever seen,” posted user always_plan_in_advan.
While some Reddit users tried to cut their losses, others embraced memes
While some users have lost hope, others are only interested in memes. Many of those who are part of the new user flow at WallStreetBets are not trying to become the next Warren Buffett. They just want your trends and memes. Rocket emojis implying that GameStop can still go “to the moon” have spread through sections of comments and some people said they would keep their actions for as long as necessary. For them, selling or having “paper hands” is like giving up on the move before stocks soar. It is a hope that accepts that if the stock does not rise, their capital may run out and their lives suffer, but they did it for a worthwhile cause.
Users with a talent for editing even took their favorite media and put it together to try to express the hilarity of the rapidly changing narrative. Hodor held the door in “Game of Thrones”, but even he struggles to get through all the noise on WallStreetBets.
Although posts containing only memes have been deleted by moderators, some of them still exist on the forum. The two different market philosophies about the submarine are reaching their peak: the old guard wants to make valid market decisions with a sarcastic tone, while the other just wants to be part of the “monkey gang” and throw as much capital into the stock hive of the mind as possible. As the weeks pass and the GameStop ballad comes to an end, the replacement will have to rely on his own identity. Is it still a place for meme traders or is it the new breeding ground for a financial revolution?
With six million new users joining in the past few weeks, there was bound to be discord among the masses. Reddit “OG” users who remember when you could just put screenshots of your epic gains or losses for approval by a favorable vote are wary of this new generation that just wants to keep its GameStop stock, hoping it will fly to the moon .