{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}} {{Short description|Intentionally posting poor-quality social media posts}} {{multiple image | border = thumb | perrow = 1 | image1 = Marisa get out of jp.png | alt1 = | image2 = | alt2 = | caption1 = Commonly reposted shitpost meme ("reaction image") originating from the /{{Wj}}jp{{Wj}}/ (Otaku culture) board of 4chan, featuring the ''Touhou Project'' character Marisa Kirisame | caption2 = }} In Internet culture, '''shitposting''' or '''trashposting''' is the act of using an online forum or social media page to post content that is of "aggressively, ironically, and trollishly poor quality".<ref name= "examples" >:{{cite web|date=2016-08-24|title=How spammers nearly destroyed the biggest 'Simpsons'|url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/simpsons-shitposting-memes-macedonian-clickbait-takeover/|website=The Daily Dot|quote=...{{nbsp}}but that doesn't quite speak to the essence of 'shitposting', which encompasses content of aggressively, ironically, and of trollishly poor quality. Incoherent jokes, hasty Photoshopping, mashups, irrelevance, errors in spelling or grammar—all are hallmarks of the shitpost{{nbsp}}...}} :{{cite web|url=https://mic.com/articles/152690/leslie-jones-hack-the-alt-rights-racist-celebration-of-jones-abject-humiliation|title=The racist, sexist alt-right is celebrating over Leslie Jones' abject humiliation|website=Mic (media company)|date=25 August 2016|quote=On alt-right forums, hate speech is passed off as "shitposting"—purposeful offensiveness meant to shock and provoke, a counterweight to calls for safe spaces and trigger warnings.}} :{{cite web|url=http://www.geek.com/news/shitpostbot-5000-proves-internet-memes-will-outlive-humans-1660503/|title=Shitpostbot 5000 proves internet memes will outlive humans|website=Geek.com|access-date=2016-09-23|archive-date=2018-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614050418/https://www.geek.com/news/shitpostbot-5000-proves-internet-memes-will-outlive-humans-1660503/|url-status=dead}} :{{cite web|url=http://www.papermag.com/multimedia-artist-manuel-arturo-abreu-on-shitposting-and-the-infinite--1986552460.html|title=Multimedia Artist manuel arturo abreu on Shitposting and the Infinite Scroll|date=2016-08-25|website=Paper|quote=I also think I subconsciously associate endless scroll with low-quality / spammy content, memes, shitposting, etc, which appeals to me.|access-date=2016-09-23|archive-date=2021-02-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224201305/https://www.papermag.com/multimedia-artist-manuel-arturo-abreu-on-shitposting-and-the-infinite--1986552460.html|url-status=dead}} :{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/23/papa-whats-a-shitpost/|title=Papa, what's a shitpost?|last=Biggs|first=John|date=2016-09-23|website=TechCrunch|quote=But remember that the shitpost isn't an expression of power rather it is the derailment of discourse.}}</ref> Shitposts are generally intentionally designed to derail discussions or cause the biggest reaction with the least effort. It may even sometimes be orchestrated as part of a co-ordinated flame war to render a website unusable by its regular visitors.<ref name="cherwell">{{cite web|url=http://www.cherwell.org/2016/04/05/purges-and-politics-in-cyberspace/|title=Purges and politics in cyberspace|last=Walker|first=Alex|date=2016-04-05|website=Cherwell|quote='Shitposting' according to the Open Oxford administrators Ash MQ & co involves 'a small coterie of members posting in-jokes, diary entries, and pictures of excrement' which meant that 'discussions were derailed, serious threads became lost amongst the nonsense, and most of the group's over 4000 members were put off ever getting involved.'}}</ref>
==Etymology== Shitposting is a contemporary form of online provocation. The term itself appeared around the mid-2000s on image boards such as 4chan. Writing for ''Polygon'', Sam Greszes compared shitposting to Dadaism's "confusing, context-free pieces that, ''specifically'' because they were so absurd, were seen as revolutionary works both artistically and politically". Greszes writes that the goal of shitposting is "to make an audience ''so confused'' at the lack of content that they laugh or smile".<ref>{{cite web |last=Greszes |first=Sam |date=2018-12-17 |title=Shitposting is an art, if history is any indication |url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/12/17/18142124/shitposting-memes-dada-art-history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218032916/https://www.polygon.com/2018/12/17/18142124/shitposting-memes-dada-art-history |archive-date=2018-12-18 |access-date=2018-12-18 |website=Polygon}}</ref>
Professor Greg Barton, an expert on terrorism at Deakin University, said that racist shitposting is common across the internet and is a way for people to connect and gain attention. He said, "The thing about social media is that it's social. You want some feedback, you want people to like your stuff whether it's Instagram or Facebook. Shitposting is all about getting your profile up, getting a response and the more ironic and funny you can be the more you get."<ref name="auto">{{cite web|last=Boseley|first=Matilda|date=2019-03-17|title=Inside the 'shitposting' subculture the alleged Christchurch shooter belonged to|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/inside-the-shit-posting-subculture-the-christchurch-shooter-belonged-to-20190317-p514xt.html|access-date=2020-06-13|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2019-03-15|title=Brenton Tarrant: How the media helped turn the 'shitposting' terrorist into a meme|url=https://tellmamauk.org/brenton-tarrant-how-the-media-helped-turn-the-shitposting-terrorist-into-a-meme/|access-date=2020-06-13|website=TELL MAMA|language=en-GB}}</ref>
==In modern politics== The political uses of shitposting came to prominence during the 2016 United States presidential election. In May of that year, ''The Daily Dot'' wrote that a shitpost is "a deliberate provocation designed for maximum impact with minimum effort".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dailydot.com/layer8/trumpese-the-donald-glossary-donald-trump/|title=How to speak like a Donald Trump supporter|date=2016-05-02|newspaper=The Daily Dot|quote=...{{nbsp}}shitposting means good posts with bad behavior. It has roots in older communities like Something Awful and 4chan, which celebrates the shitpost like no other. The shitpost is a troll, a deliberate provocation designed for maximum impact with minimum effort. It's bad. It's good.}}</ref>
In September 2016 the pro-Trump group ''Nimble America'' received widespread media attention.<ref name="db">{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/22/palmer-luckey-the-facebook-billionaire-secretly-funding-trump-s-meme-machine.html|title=Palmer Luckey: The Facebook Near Billionaire Secretly Funding Trump's Meme Machine|last=Ben Collins|first=Gideon Resnick|date=2016-09-23|website=The Daily Beast}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/23/oculus-rift-vr-palmer-luckey-trump-shitposts|title=Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey spends fortune backing pro-Trump 'shitposts'|last=Hern|first=Alex|date=2016-09-23|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://qz.com/789359/palmer-luckey-sold-oculus-to-facebook-fb-for-2-billion-now-hes-funding-a-group-that-shitposts-anti-hillary-clinton-memes/|title=The founder of Oculus is funding a group that "shitposts" anti-Hillary Clinton memes|last=Horwitz|first=Josh|date=2016-09-23|website=Quartz (publication)|language=en-US}}</ref> ''The Daily Beast'' described the group as "dedicated to 'shitposting' and circulating internet memes maligning Hillary Clinton".<ref name="db" />
In September 2016, ''The Independent'' wrote that shitposting is an apolitical "tool that can be put to a variety of effects",<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/what-is-shitposting-donald-trump-us-election-2016-palmer-luckey-a7326111.html|title=Shitposting: What is the bizarre online behaviour that could win Donald Trump the election?|date=2016-09-23|website=The Independent|language=en-GB|quote=Shitposting in itself doesn't appear to have much of a politics, instead being a tool that can be put to a variety of effects—being used from everyone from the far-right such as Trump fans to left-wing groups online like those meant to support Bernie Sanders.}}</ref> but posts such as these appeared long before the 2016 US presidential election. ''Engineering & Technology'' magazine wrote that "shitposting, whether from the left or right, is perilously close to delivering an online metastasis of Orwell's Two-minute Hate{{sic}}".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2016/09/view-from-washington-palmer-luckey/|title=Real-world politics torpedo Facebook's virtual pioneer|last=Dempsey|first=Paul|date=2016-09-27|website=Engineering & Technology}}</ref>
In November 2016, ''Esquire'' magazine wrote, "internet mockery is emerging as a legitimate political technique: shitposting. Maybe the 2020 election will be all shitposting."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a50327/why-us-election-2016-is-not-funny/|title=Why Canada Can't Laugh At America Anymore|date=2016-11-07|newspaper=Esquire}}</ref>
In March 2018, talking about the Facebook group New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens (NUMTOT), ''Chicago'' magazine described it as "posts that are meant to be awkward and irrelevant, aggravating and distracting social media communities from discussing their topic at hand".<ref name="Mortice 2018-1">{{cite web|last=Mortice|first=Zach|title=Meet the 61,000 Transit Nerds of Facebook's 'New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens'|url=http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/March-2018/Meet-the-61000-Transit-Nerds-of-Facebooks-New-Urbanist-Memes-for-Transit-Oriented-Teens/|work=Chicago|publisher=Tronc|date=29 March 2018|access-date=30 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="Mortice 2018-2">{{cite web|last=Mortice|first=Zach|title=Meet the 61,000 Transit Nerds of Facebook's 'New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens'|url=http://zachmortice.com/2018/04/09/meet-61000-transit-nerds-facebooks-new-urbanist-memes-transit-oriented-teens/|work=Zach Mortice|publisher=zachmortice.com|date=9 April 2018|access-date=30 April 2018}}</ref>
The ''Financial Times'' defined shitposting as "posting ostentatiously inane and contextless content to an online forum or social network with the effect of derailing discussion". It gave the example of the British former Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson being forced to deny she had killed squirrels for fun after online trolls made up a story about her having done so.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/00df4ed4-1dbc-11ea-97df-cc63de1d73f4|title=Year in a word: Shitposting|newspaper=Financial Times|accessdate=Mar 21, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Golby|first=Joel|url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/21/jo-swinson-squirrel-twitter|title=This week's biggest Twitter controversy? Jo Swinson's squirrel problem|date=Nov 21, 2019|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=Mar 21, 2021}}</ref>
== In music == In 2024, writing for ''Pitchfork'', music journalist Kieran Press-Reynolds coined the term "shitpost modernism" to describe a wave of artists influenced directly or indirectly by shitpost culture, stating "Imagine if 'shitpost' didn't mean far-right 4channers spamming Dark Brandon GIFs but instead became a zeitgeist-defining aesthetic for music". They cited American rapper Lil Yachty's "Poland", Saint Mercator's "Da Biggest Bird", Audwin Gray's "KRUSTY KREW ANTHEM" alongside the vocal style of Yeat, Yuno Miles and 645AR.<ref name=":1" /> Argentine rapper AgusFortnite2008 cited internet shitpost culture as an influence.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |date=2024-01-19 |title=The Musical Age of Shitpost Modernism |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/the-age-of-shitpost-modernism/ |access-date=2026-05-03 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}</ref> Additionally, Press-Reynolds cited several precursors to the style such as "Pisscore" and artists Lil B, IceJJFish, and James Ferraro.<ref name=":1" />
== See also == {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * {{anl|AI slop}} * {{anl|Algospeak}} * {{anl|Brain rot}} * {{anl|Cringe comedy}} * {{anl|Dril}} * {{anl|Hot take}} * {{anl|Imageboard}} * {{anl|Internet forum}} * {{anl|Italian brainrot}} * {{anl|Junlper}} * {{anl|Low culture}} * {{anl|Meme}} * {{anl|Ragebait}} * {{anl|Remix culture}} * {{anl|Weird SoundCloud}} * {{anl|Weird Twitter}} * {{anl|YouTube Poop}} * {{anl|Schizoposting}} {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== * {{wiktionary-inline}} * {{Commonscatinline}}
{{Anonymous and the Internet}} {{internet slang}}
Category:Shitposters Category:Anti-intellectualism Category:Internet trolling Category:Internet humor Category:Internet memes Category:English profanity Category:Internet posting terminology