About

Reddit "I Stole It" Watermark refers to a parody authenticity seel used by Redditors to mockingly express that a meme, either on Instagram or the /r/dankmemes subreddit is not original content.

Origin

On December 14th, 2018, Redditor ^[1] 1000MothsInAManSuit posted an Outstanding Move meme to the /r/dankmemes subreddit. References to memes on /r/dankmemes covered the image, which was captioned "Using Reddit references in your meme to keep people from posting it to Instagram." Within two months, the image received more than 12,000 points (97% upvoted) and 100 comments (shown below, left).

The image solidified a meme war between /r/dankmemes and Instagram meme accounts, with the former accusing the latter of stealing memes.

On January 21st, 2019, Redditor^[2] QUZANG posted an image of a watermark for Redditors that reads "This is not my creation. I stole it." The post received more than 3,300 points in two days (shown below, right).

Spread

Over the next 24 hours, more users used the watermark and variations of it. That day, Redditor^[3] MetalSlayer69 posted a version of the watermark over a Robbie Rotten meme. The watermark read, "This meme was made for reddit. This was NOT made for Instagram." The post received more than 14, 000 points (94% upvoted) in two days (shown below).

One of the most popular used the watermark to generate an image of Marvel Comics character Thanos. The post, shared by Redditor^[4] StSpyro, featured the caption "When you finally learn how to make memes using only Reddit watermark." Within two days, the post received more than 92,000 points (94% upvoted) and 650 comments (shown below, left).

The following day, Redditor^[5] beniamino_guzzo posted a meme on /r/dankmemes^[5] that featured the watermark on a four-panel meme featuring Robbie Rotten, Bob Ross, Shrek and Ultra Instinct Shaggy. The post received more than 26,000 points (89% upvoted) and 460 comments (shown below, center).

Additionally, Redditor^[6] ShoreSWBF posted a That Sign Won't Stop Me Because I Can't Read meme on the /r/dankmemes subreddit. Within 24 hours, the post received more than 20,000 points (96% upvoted) in 24 hours (shown below, right).

Various Examples

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External References