Greentext

Greentext, or Greentext stories refer to a genre of online anecdotes, written in brief sentences on 4chan.

They are referred to as such, because they use the visual characteristics of the message board’s “greentext” code.

While the exact origin of “greentext” stories are impossible to trace on 4chan, due to a lack of archival system, the genre itself started emerging on the image board in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s.

Many of the early anecdotes revolved around embarrassing, awkward and funny stories, which led to the spread of the style.

The first Urban Dictionary entry on “greentext” was uploaded on January 10^th, 2010.

“Greentext” stories gained increased popularity and presence online thanks to the screenshots users would share on various sites.

An early example of this can be linked to FunnyJunk, where a screenshot of a “greentext” story was posted by user DietWater on November 23td, 2010.

By 2011, screen captures had surfaced on the r/4chan subreddit, eventually leading to the creation of the r/greentext sub on August 23^rd, 2011.

Over the 2010’s, the genre grew recognizable and spread to various social media sites, such as Facebook as well as meme sites like 9GAG and iFunny.

Simultaneously, the popularity of “greentext” stories resulted in an upheaval in their numbers, as they would surface on various 4chan boards.

• Reddit – r/greentext
• Quora – How is greentext used on 4chan?