The red circle in the online community has become a useful tool to help people see something that otherwise would be difficult to spot. Missing a crucial detail might ruin your whole experience of a funny post and leave you dumbfounded. Fortunately, fellows with paints come to our rescue to ensure we don’t miss out on the joke.
The subreddit “Useful Red Circle” has gathered 35.5k members who find and share these kind-hearted acts of service from all over the internet. Scroll through to see all the things you might have missed without the help of the all-knowing ring.
#1 The Answer To The Question “Why Do I Need My Lights On? It’s Only Rain”
Image credits: CasualFenrir
#2 Needed This Red Circle To Find It
Image credits: BigMacRedneck
#3 Textio
Image credits: tomasek1a
Created in 2018, the subreddit “Useful Red Circle” features all kinds of content, from hidden optical illusions to ridiculous mistakes in marketing. The moderators restrict “not safe for work” (NSFW) posts that contain nudity, vulgarity, or violence so that its members can safely scroll through the images during working hours, too. It’s the perfect way to waste company time (but do so at your own risk).
#4 I Was Told This Would Fit Best Here
Image credits: ikaikanani
#5 Hidden Elephant
Image credits: Discochickens
#6 Bees Good Humans Bad
Image credits: cckarate7
If you wish to participate in this subreddit, you have to avoid cluttering the feed with useless circles. However, other useful shapes (like squares and arrows) and colors are allowed as long as their intent is to bring your focus to a part of a video, image, or GIF. The moderators of this community are encouraging an inclusive space and reminding us to be respectful of others, as the usefulness of a red circle might vary from person to person.
The red circle is quite a controversial topic amongst netizens. For some, it helps to point out something hiding in plain sight, while others feel that it’s quite an annoying and useless addition that just states the obvious.
#7 Same For Recursion
Image credits: Moms_Sphagetti
#8 Took Me A Moment
Image credits: Omnias-42
#9 Blursed News
Image credits: bosverd
#10 Snek
Image credits: Sph1nx33
There’s a good explanation for why some of us fail to notice the things that are so clearly visible to others. In psychology, it’s called inattentional blindness, which involves overlooking certain things because your attention is focused on something else like a task, object, or person. Your concentration plays a significant role in visual perception, and when something else detracts from it, it increases the likelihood of you not noticing the most conspicuous things in your environment. For example, when your attention is on the main character of the film, you might not observe the unexpected things entering your visual field. The same goes for images with red circles. You might miss the circled details because you were so attentive to its foregrounded elements.
#11 Quick Alert
Image credits: BigMacRedneck
#12 Husbands Are Blind
Image credits: YourTherapistSays
#13 Heavily Editing Your Profile Pic
Image credits: Ninja_Spi-D-er
#14 Almost Worked
Image credits: geekasso
Additionally, our brains have been known to miss the obvious and create biases against certain visuals they find distracting. For instance, if you’re participating in an experiment where you’re told to find a face among flashing images of houses, your brain will create a sorting mechanism against images of houses so it can spot the face. If afterward you’re asked to do the opposite, chances are you’ll miss the house pictures due to the bias of the previous test.
#15 These Red Circles Are Very Useful
Image credits: ahdfbnjkfdasbnlkjf
#16 Me_irl
Image credits: chisomama
#17 How Much?
Image credits: BigMacRedneck
#18 Just A Happy Family
Image credits: Allstarhit
On the other hand, some people love to point out the apparent. We did this a lot while we were kids, like saying, “Hey, it’s a dog!" after seeing one. Our parents were probably rolling their eyes and thinking, “Yes, yes, it is Captain Obvious."
But stating evident facts helps us connect to each other and ensure we’re on the same page about the situation, as frustrating as sometimes it might be. Mentioning to a friend, “It’s hot outside,” when standing under the scorching sun acknowledges the shared experience, helping us to feel more connected. While getting iced coffee and in air conditioning, we feel heard and validated, which helps to develop trust in relationships.
#19 To See If A Rock Is Perfectly Round
Image credits: matrix445
#20 Wouldn’t Have Noticed Otherwise
Image credits: reddit.com
#21 No More, No Less
Image credits: tampontaco
#22 Hidden Dog
Image credits: BigMacRedneck
Some of us tend to avoid sharing insights that we think are clear to individuals because of our fear of facing dissatisfaction (“Duh, Sherlock.”) It’s the element of surprise we’re usually after to appear interesting, which usually disqualifies the known and predictable from our conversations. But steering away from self-evident topics stops us from discovering something unusual about the obvious that was hiding in plain sight. We worry about seeming generic, but a big part of us is mundane and cliché, which allows us to share familiarities with close people.
#23 Wondering Why He Wasn't Getting Whooped
Image credits: 93arkhanov93
#24 Not Red But Very Useful
Image credits: AlanFeems
#25 Wow
Image credits: MesopotamiaSong
#26 I See What You Did There
Image credits: reginaldVince
Additionally, something that is known to you might be a revelation to others. Assuming that everyone knows this piece of information restricts you from wanting to share your insights, detracting from building collective knowledge with those around you. With that in mind, we could all learn something from the subreddit "Useful Red Circle,” which accommodates everyone—the ones who are slower to see the obvious and the ones who think that everything is always too conspicuous.
#27 Guess Who's A Part Of The Problem
Image credits: AH50
#28 Their Hair Says Ninja
Image credits: Jesusepn
#29 The Poster For The Movie Legend (2015) Mocked One Of Its Negative Reviews By Hiding The Two Star Review Between The Kray Twins Heads
Image credits: reddit.com
#30 I’m Not Sure We Have The Right Man For The Job…
Image credits: Eugenonymous
#31 I Posted This To R/Uselessredcircle But Maybe It Fits Better Here Since The Person Would Be Hopelessly Lost Without It
Image credits: GeneralReposti_Bot
#32 In The Hallway At School
Image credits: mistermajik2000
#33 Being A Little Hypocritical Don’t You Think?
Image credits: RabiesRaisinss
#34 Never? Never???
Image credits: lloyd_braun_no_1_dad
#35 Hmmm
Image credits: xAndrei166
#36 Your Warranty Ran Out In Maypril, Dude
Image credits: travislaker
#37 For A Genius Billionaire, This Bike Design Looks A Little Bit Unsafe
Image credits: WalkingMinotaur
#38 Red Circle Emoji
Image credits: annepherson
#39 Hello There... ?
Image credits: isubucks
#40 Smooooth
Image credits: Twiekor
#41 Very Useful Indeed
Image credits: Nitroz898
#42 That Circle ⭕️ Is A Lifesaver!
Image credits: Pink_Waterfall
#43 Dubai Progress - A Much Needed Red Circle Showing The Toyota Building Still Standing To Witness All The Changes That Occurred
Image credits: bassaleh
#44 Controllers On My Controller
Image credits: artgeek02
#45 Add Reflective Stripe To The Inner Side Of Manhole Ring, So If/When Cover Is Removed The Hole Is Visible For Drivers At Night — Is It Already A Thing? I Can't Find
Image credits: efojs
#46 New Zealand Government 404 Page Does Not Include New Zealand
Image credits: brock-likes-hawks
#47 Almost Scored A Hell Of A Bargain
Image credits: TawXic
#48 Thanks For Pointing It Out
Image credits: BigMacRedneck
#49 How To Identify The Flag Of Japan
Image credits: pashbrown
#50 Helping Us Spot How Amazon Messed Up
Image credits: EmsAreOverworkedLul
