Who created Reddit's The Button experiment?

Josh Wardle created Reddit’s The Button experiment. Wardle, who used the Reddit username powerlanguage, designed the event as an unusual social game built around a single button and a 60-second countdown.

The Button launched on April 1, 2015, as a Reddit April Fools’ experiment. Each eligible account could press the button only once, and every press reset the countdown for everyone. Users received colored flair based on how much time remained when they clicked, turning participation—or deliberate nonparticipation—into a visible status symbol.

The experiment became a large online coordination test. More than one million Reddit accounts participated, producing 1,008,316 recorded clicks. It ended on June 5, 2015, when the timer reached zero without another qualifying press. Wardle later became widely known as the creator of Wordle, but his earlier Reddit work also included r/place.

A common mix-up is attributing The Button to Reddit co-founders Alexis Ohanian or Steve Huffman. They founded Reddit, but Wardle created this particular experiment while working there.