Predditor

About

Predditor is a slang term that aimed to replace the word "Groomer" when it was banned in the /r/PoliticalCompassMemes subreddit in July 2022. It's a portmanteau of the words "predator" and "Redditor," as in a child predator that frequents Reddit. The decision to ban it within the subreddit was based on the word's use as hate speech for LGBTQ+ persons. Awareness of the ban spread across social media as catchphrases like OK Predditor emerged based on the OK Boomer meme. The primary image macro featured Reddit's mascot Snoo waving a transgender flag.

Origin

/r/PoliticalCompassMemes Banning "Groomer"

The decision to ban the word "Groomer" was made because of its use as a derogatory term for LGBTQ+ persons online. Accounts such as Libs of TikTok used the term and applied it to members of the LGBTQ+ community online in 2022.

As real-world violence against LGBTQ+ persons became evident in 2022 (examples being the Patriot Front U-Haul and conflicts at Drag The Kids To Pride), Reddit, alongside TikTok and Meta, revealed to the Daily Dot^[1] on July 20th that "baselessly calling LGBTQ people or the community 'groomers' or accusing them of 'grooming' is governed under their policies prohibiting hate speech."

On July 13th, 2022, admins and moderators of the /r/PoliticalCompassMemes subreddit made a post^[2] that announced the ban of "groomer," among other hate speech terms, within its subreddit. This predominantly started the conversation on the platform to remove the word, citing Reddit's Content Policy,^[3] specifically "Rule 1," which outlined hate speech violations on Reddit. The bullet points within the post that the admins aimed to ban/limit were:

• No direct threats of violence directed at specific individuals or groups of people (sorry, “wood chipper” and “face the wall” comments have to go)
• No telling people to kill themselves or celebration of suicide, individual or statistical
• No slurs (yes, “retard” is a slur now under reddit’s rules), slur evasions, despites, “(( ))”s, “13/52”s, equating a race to animals, or just commenting “N” (this covers all ouji style slurs, don’t pretend you don’t know what you’re doing)
• No posts meant to generate hate at certain groups (looking at you Europeans and American auth-rights)
• No portraying LGBT people as a whole as “groomers” or “pedophiles”, calling them a slur, or deadnaming them
• No portraying being transgender as a mental illness, and no more saying that “trans men will never be real men” or “trans women will never be real women”, or intentionally misgendering them
• No genocide denial, no matter who committed it

"Predditor" Origin

The use of the word "Predditor" dates back further than 2022. For instance, on July 31st, 2021, Redditor Unique_username3210 posted a meme to /r/Memes ^[4] that used "Predditor" as a portmanteau for "professional Redditor." In one year, the meme received roughly 24,100 upvotes. It was also used by Twitter^[13] user hi_its_madeIine on September 28th, 2020.

After the /r/PoliticalCompassMemes "Groomer" ban in July 2022, "Predditor" became associated as a substitute for "Groomer." This happened on July 16th, 2022, when Redditor P4TR10T_03 made a post to /r/LouderWithCrowder^[5] (a subreddit dedicated to conservative comedian Steven Crowder) that read, "'OK, gr00mer' isn't allowed anymore? Fine, predditor," and attached an image of Snoo holding a transgender pride flag (shown below). In five days, the post received roughly 2,600 upvotes before it was removed.

Also on July 16th, an archived 4chan thread was created on /pol/ ^[16] that started with another "Ok, Predditor" image. It is also a likely source for the primary image of Snoo holding the transgender pride flag, as well as the coining of the catchphrase.

Another likely origin is a since-deleted Reddit post to /r/terriblefacebookmemes that was screenshotted and reposted to Twitter^[17] by user RadicalLib on July 17th, earning roughly 15,500 likes in five days.

Spread

On July 15th, 2022, LGBTQ+ News Outlet Pink News wrote an article^[11] that they've since deleted due to them believing that "groomer" had been banned across all of Reddit. On July 16th, Twitter^[12] user LabelFreeBrands tweeted a screenshot of Pink News' headline, earning roughly 1,400 likes in six days (shown below).

On the morning of July 17th, 2022, Redditor Always_Late_Lately made a post to /r/PoliticalCompassMemes^[10] that showed Snoo holding an LGBTQ+ Pride flag with "Ok, Predditor" written underneath. In five days, the post received roughly 1,800 upvotes (shown below, left). Later on July 17th, 2022, Telegram ^[8] user TommyRobinsonNews made a post that spread misinformation claiming that Reddit had banned the word "groomer" across its entire website, when in fact, it was just on /r/PoliticalCompassMemes. Over four days, the post received roughly 85,100 views (shown below, right). Additionally, its text was reposted on Twitter^[9] by multiple users.

On the morning of July 18th, Redditor P4TR10T_03 posted another image, this time to /r/TheRightCantMeme,^[6] that depicted a Pride Flag Pedobear with "Ok, Predditor" written underneath it. In three days, the post received roughly 100 upvotes (shown below, left). Later on July 18th, Redditor espresso_fox shared an exploited Groomer Wojak with "The 35-Year Old Predditor" written above it to /r/TheRightCantMeme,^[7] gaining roughly 2,000 upvotes in three days (shown below, right).

On July 18th, 2022, the Twitter^[14] account reddit_lies posted a tweet about the alleged banning of the word "groomer," earning roughly 2,400 likes in four days. Additionally, screenshots of Pink News' headline were uploaded to 4chan^[15] on July 18th where it was discussed en masse.

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References