Man shouting with a speech bubble saying '+1 Confirm'

+1

2004catchphrasedeclining

Published August 1, 2026

"+1" is a two-character forum reply used to signal agreement with the post directly above it. The phrase was formally documented on Urban Dictionary in April 2004, and it later became core jargon in the Know Your Meme comment sections, though its use faded across the 2010s as upvote and "like" buttons took over the same role.

catchphrase memes forum era memes slang memes internet slang origin memes early internet memes

Overview

"+1" (read as "plus one") is a short forum reply used to signal agreement with the comment directly above it1. Instead of typing out a full response, users drop the two-character shorthand to add weight to another person's opinion or to co-sign a suggestion someone has floated for community consideration1.

The reply carries a positive connotation but does not always mean full endorsement of an idea. Sometimes a "+1" is just a call for the specific action the commenter above suggested, not a blanket agreement with their broader argument1.

Origin & Background

Platform
Internet forums (viral spread on Know Your Meme)
Date
2004

"+1" circulated on internet forums for years before it got a formal write-up1. On April 28, 2004, Urban Dictionary user Joe Mama added a definition of the phrase, one of several competing entries the site collected around that time explaining how forum posters deployed the shorthand1.

How It Spread

Use of "+1" thinned out across the 2010s as Reddit, Twitter and Facebook rolled out upvote and "like" buttons that did the same job with a single click1. Curiosity about the phrase resurfaced on Quora on March 9, 2020, where user Shulamit Widawsky answered a thread revisiting what "+1" actually meant to newer users2.

On Know Your Meme the phrase went the other direction. "+1" entered the site's community vocabulary in late 2009, first through admins and moderators weighing in on entry submissions, and by 2010 it was one of the most common bits of site-specific jargon in the comment sections3.

How to Use This Meme

On most forums, a "+1" reply is typically dropped as a standalone comment right under whichever post you want to back1. On Know Your Meme, the common convention is to follow "+1" with the aspect of the page you're pointing out, so replies often read "+1 image" or "+1 origin"3.

Frequently Asked Questions