GameStop / WallStreetBets
The January 2021 GameStop short squeeze — Reddit's r/WallStreetBets vs. hedge funds, memes, and retail-trader chaos.
Overview
Showed how coordinated internet communities could move markets and force institutional attention. Popularized diamond-hands / to-the-moon slang, meme-stock culture, and debates about retail brokerage power — a defining late-2010s/early-2020s internet-finance collision.
Cultural scores
Editorial estimates of cultural weight — Current Popularity tracks how much people are posting about this now, not historical fame.
Current Popularity = how actively people are posting about this today. Influence = lasting footprint. Cringe = online reception. Brainrot = absurdist energy. How scoring works
Timeline
1
r/WallStreetBets pushed GameStop (GME) into a historic short squeeze in January 2021
2
Trading apps briefly restricted buying — sparking outrage and congressional attention
3
Spawned a wave of meme-stock discourse, livestreams, and finance memes
4
Cemented WSB language (apes, diamond hands, tendies) in mainstream media
Media
Related entries
Culturally linked — not random recommendations.
Ratio
SlangOn X (formerly Twitter), when a reply gets significantly more likes or engagement than the original post — the reply has 'ratioed' the original, signaling broad disagreement with the tweet.
Among Us Meme Era
MemeThe 2020 Among Us boom — crewmate impostor jokes, 'sus,' emergency meetings, and endless fan content.
The Great Meme Reset
EventDuring the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, many pre-pandemic meme formats faded while TikTok-native and Gen Z formats rose — a widely discussed turnover in what felt funny online.
Reddit Culture
TrendUpvotes, subreddits, AMAs, and hive-mind humor — the forum that turns niche interests into front-page events.
Based
SlangHolding an opinion confidently without caring about social approval — used online as high praise.
Short-Form Video Takeover
EventHow TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts rewired attention spans and fundamentally changed how culture spreads.
References
Sources behind this entry. Prefer primary reporting and established culture archives over rumor.
- GameStop short squeeze — Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org