Shitposting — Collage of Pokemon logos and letters arranged to spell an absurd phrase

Shitposting

2007internet slangclassic

Published September 27, 2026

"Shitposting" started as Something Awful forum slang for worthless posts in April 2007, then spread through 4chan, Reddit and Urban Dictionary across the late 2000s and early 2010s. By 2016, pro-Trump group Nimble America openly called their meme campaigns shitposting, pulling the term into US election coverage.

internet slang origin memes something awful memes 4chan memes trolling memes ironic memes

Overview

Shitposting covers forum misbehaviors aimed at derailing conversations, including thread jacking, circlejerking and non-commercial spamming5. A typical shitpost is a low-effort, off-topic reply, often a tired image macro or recycled meme with no real connection to the thread it lands in2. On 4chan, the byproduct is nicknamed "cancer," and the /s4s/ (shit 4chan says) board is treated as the practice's spiritual home5.

The tone is deliberately ironic and apathetic. Urban Dictionary described it as "an ironic artform of expressive yet apathetic funposting"4. By the mid-2010s the word had loosened, also covering out-of-context screenshots and stale memes passed around Facebook and other social sites2.

Origin & Background

Platform
Something Awful (viral spread across 4chan and Reddit)
Date
2007

The earliest known use of "shitposting" appeared on the Something Awful Forums on April 10, 2007, when member OhSNAP!Tray applied the term to worthless threads in the site's BYOB subforum1. Weeks later, on June 28, 2007, Penny Arcade Forums member IHasABucket accused other users of shitposting in an argument about electronic dance music genres3. Urban Dictionary user jarrynkell filed the first "shitpost" entry on January 4, 20084, with a broader "Shit Posting" entry from user Chunky Milk following on March 26, 20104.

How It Spread

Encyclopedia Dramatica added a "Shitpost" page on April 27, 2011 that tied the practice to 4chan's /s4s/ board and Reddit's /r/circlejerk9. That October, Redditors launched /r/shitpost as a hub for low-quality Reddit posts. On November 11, 2012, user RustledHard's screenshot of a 4chan thread titled "Now this is what I call shitposting" pulled over 3,100 upvotes on /r/4chan6.

Format-native shitposts started showing up in 2013. FunnyJunk user Nahyon posted an "expand dong" style Pokemon box art edit titled "Le shitposting faic" on August 5, 20138, and Redditor hardycoreman submitted "The Shitpost King," an MS Paint image of a king at a computer, to /r/Braveryjerk on November 6, 20137. The Independent covered the word on September 23, 2016, reporting that pro-Trump group Nimble America, funded by Oculus creator Palmer Luckey, called its meme campaign shitposting and credited "meme magic" for its reach during the US presidential race2.

Timeline

2008-01-04

Urban Dictionary user jarrynkell submits the first "shitpost" entry.

2010-03-26

Urban Dictionary user Chunky Milk adds a "Shit Posting" entry defining it as an unconstructive forum post.

2011-04-27

Encyclopedia Dramatica publishes a "Shitpost" article linking the practice to /s4s/ and /r/circlejerk.

2012-11-11

Redditor RustledHard's "Now this is what I call shitposting" 4chan screenshot pulls 3,100+ upvotes on /r/4chan.

2016-09-23

The Independent reports on pro-Trump group Nimble America openly branding its meme campaign as shitposting.

Frequently Asked Questions