Reddit Course — Part 5 (Q223–270)

## Module 9 — Reddit culture, jargon, and norms ### What does "OP" mean, and how is it used? "OP" stands for "Original Poster" or "Original Post," referring to the person who started a thread or to the thread itself. The term is used universally across Reddit as a way to address or refer to whoever created the post being discussed without having to repeat their username. When commenters want to direct a remark specifically at the person who started the thread — asking a clarifying question, offering advice, or addressing something in the original submission — they write "OP" in their reply. Reddit even makes the designation visible to everyone by displaying an "OP" tag next to the original poster's username in their own comment replies, so it is immediately clear when the thread starter has joined the conversation. The term carries social weight beyond mere labeling. Saying "OP should have done this differently" frames a criticism at the author's choices rather than at a random commenter, which subtly changes how the community responds. In long threads where hundreds of people have weighed in, referring back to "what OP actually said" helps anchor the conversation to the original facts rather than to speculation that may have drifted far from the source material. OP can sometimes also stand for "Original Post" rather than "Original Poster" — context usually makes this clear. If someone says "link me to the OP," they mean the post itself; if they say "ask OP directly," they mean the person. In reposting culture, where screenshots of threads are shared to other platforms, you will sometimes see "OOP" — Original OP — used to distinguish the person in a screenshot from the person sharing it. Outside of Reddit, "OP" has different meanings, including "overpowered" in gaming contexts, but on Reddit the Original Poster sense is nearly universal. New users occasionally confuse it with those other meanings, which is why threads in communities like r/NewToReddit still see the question come up regularly. Understanding the term is fundamental because comment sections frequently organize themselves around what OP established, and missing that framing makes following the conversation difficult.