

How to Not Get Ratioedīeing ratioed can be incredibly unnerving, especially when it happens on a large scale. Unpopular posts will get voted to the bottom of the thread or be marked as “controversial,” which is a status where a post has many upvotes and downvotes at the same time. Because of Reddit’s karma system with upvotes and downvotes, users do not need to comment to voice their displeasure at a particular post. Other places, such as Reddit, do not have ratios at all.

On YouTube, ratios are commonly seen in the comments sections of videos. This includes other traditional social media apps like Facebook and Instagram as well as content-sharing platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Ratios exist on basically every social networking site with likes, comments, and a counter that displays the number of likes and comments. The first definition on Urban Dictionary was created in September of 2020. They became even more prominent in 2020 when celebrity fans known as “stans” adopted the phrase.

Since then, ratios have become a part of online culture and are widely understood on Twitter. Currently, this tweet has over 52,000 replies and just around 6,400 likes. The article discussed the response of United Airlines to a passenger being pulled from one of their flights. However, one of the big reasons it took off was an article from Esquire discussing the importance of “The Ratio” on Twitter. The term “ratio” was likely coined around 2017, although its exact origin is unknown. The presence of companies, celebrities, politicians, and their supporters, plus plenty of talk about controversial and divisive topics, makes ratios a common sight there. It’s no surprise, seeing as the app is known for being heated and contentious. The vast majority of the instances of something being ratioed can be found on the social networking site Twitter. RELATED: What Is a "Stan," and Where Does the Name Come From? Twitter and Ratios Stans will often attempt to ratio tweets from supporters of what they perceive to be “opposing” groups of fans. We previously explained “ stan culture,” which refers to the intense fandom of people over a certain celebrity figure. Ratios are also common in internet fights. Their comments are met with widespread dislike, which translates to the ratio. Trolls, who create posts that are deliberately meant to anger people, are often ratioed. Often, fans of a celebrity will comment “ratio” as a call to action for other people to leave negative replies. Being ratioed also happens concurrently with “brigading,” which means mobilizing a group of people to do something on the internet.
