- The WallStreetBets subreddit has exploded in popularity.
- The forum’s culture faces an identity crisis with its growth.
- Some want the subreddit to be a hub for risky traders, while some newer users just want to mem.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
WallStreetBets, the Reddit forum that recently promoted the unlikely share choice of GameStop through collective action, has been split after a flood of new users joined subreddit over the past few weeks amid greater attention. As markets fluctuated and the price of GameStop dropped, from $ 325 on January 29 to $ 61 on February 8, WallStreetBets members struggled to put together a single ethos for the community that had previously shown impressive teamwork.
In less than a month, WallStreetBets gained 6 million subscribers, became the center of media attention, aired a Super Bowl ad, and handled a moderator coup. Now it is struggling to find an identity that is moving forward.
Some WallStreetBets members try to understand why the community can not keep GameStop’s hype alive
Over the weekend, users on WallStreetBets trying to come out with the Gamestop share below $ 100 flooded the subreddit. Some have tried to understand why their campaign to increase the price in the longer term does not work. Others discussed their frustration at how Robinhood stopped GameStop stock trading, causing the price to drop. Some posters even went so far as to say that the plan to overthrow Wall Street by holding ‘meme shares’ was never a viable plan.
“Stop saying it’s not working, it’s never going to work, we’ve become greedy, we’ve become stupid and all the other backside self-delusions to make you feel better,” user Effective War writes.
‘You’re actually crazy. We have no problem with the inventory, ‘user OlyBamaye wrote. “We have a problem with YOU.”
An iconic figure on WallStreetBets has fallen silent
Keith Gill, known on Reddit as DeepF – Value and one of the creators of the GameStop share, also took a step back from the sub. Throughout 2020, the user updated daily on his profits from meme purchases, which made him a kind of bow figure in the community. His last daily update was on February 3 and the next day the news broke that Gill was being investigated for his work as a financial adviser and that he might be asked to testify to Congress. His absence from the division made users worried and nostalgic for GME profits.
“In honor of finally seeing the almighty u / deepf value. We must now do our part to make him write in the history books as the greatest WallStreetBets has ever seen,” the user always_plan_in_advan posted.
While some Reddit users tried to reduce their losses, others embraced the memes
While some users have lost hope, others are just the memes. Many who are part of the new stream of WallStreetBets users are not trying to become the next Warren Buffett. They just want their tenders and memes. Emoji from the rocket indicating that GameStop could still go ‘to the moon’ were spread by comment sections and some people said they would keep their shares for as long as it lasted. For them, selling or having “paper hands” is like giving up the movement before stocks rise. It is a hope that accepts that if the stock does not go up, their capital may weaken and their lives may suffer, but they do so for a valuable cause.
Users with an ability to edit even took their favorite media and bundled it together to try and express the hilarity of the fast-moving story. Hodor keeps the door open in ‘Game of Thrones’, but even he struggles to get through all the noise on WallStreetBets.
Although posts containing only memes have been removed by moderators, some of them still exist on the forum. The two different market philosophies in the sub come to the point: the old guard wants to make valid market decisions with a sarcastic undertone, while the other just wants to be a part of the “monkey gang” and throw as much capital into the hive as possible. As the weeks go by and the GameStop ballad comes to an end, the sub will have to reckon with his own identity. Is it still a place for traders to join in, or is it the new breeding ground for a financial revolution?
With six million new users joining in the past few weeks, there has been disagreement among the masses. The “OG” Reddit users who remember that you could only post screenshots of your epic gains or losses for voting approval are wary of this newer generation who just want to hold on to their GameStop inventory and hope it rises to the moon.