If you’re new here, welcome. If you’re an old head from the earlier versions of this forum, then you already know — this thread was one of the most active and enduring. Originally launched in 2017, it ran for over 90 pages, clocked 200k+ views, and became a key space for those attuned to symbolic decoding in the media world. Inspired by Vigilant Citizen’s “Symbolic Pics of the Month” series, this thread extended the practice into the community: anyone with eyes, a phone, and awareness could contribute.
For those wondering if the work has been lost — it hasn’t.
Back in 2017, I created an Instagram account to catalog the most significant findings. It grew to over 6,000 posts but eventually hit a wall. Instagram’s endless-scroll format, lack of metadata, and poor navigation capabilities meant that users couldn’t grasp the broader patterns — the forest got buried under the trees.
That’s when I pivoted.
I dove into code and spent the last two years building a dedicated platform designed specifically for this research. The result is a social library app — a living archive for symbolic documentation. Users can upload findings with contextual metadata: country, date, brand, symbolism, model, etc. This transforms what once felt like isolated moments into a navigable system of study. A visual web of meaning.
The platform is now live at dsmntl.app. Over 2,500 images are already uploaded (many of which are from the old IG archive), with 5,000+ more queued for release. Running some numbers and extending the research on the topic and its scope, I estimate that as a community with this tool, we can gather over 20k images, that’s when the map will trully start to make sense - even if it subsequently already does.
All uploads go through a moderation layer to ensure quality and relevance. Moderators can post directly, with revision history in place to maintain integrity.
I set manually who is a moderator or not. To apply, read the full documentation on the site (Top right “i”). I also am the only one yet reviewing uploads, so don’t worry if it takes time, other moderators will also be able to, but there is none yet doing it. The more we build it, the faster it will get.
Important to note: the app is not built for conversation. That’s why I’m glad to see the forum back. Ideally, this thread becomes the official conversation hub for the app — a place for dialogue, theory, and cross-analysis. The app holds the data; the thread holds the fire.
This project is not monetized. It’s designed as a public tool — for researchers, artists, cultural critics, or anyone trying to make sense of the coded world around them.
You don’t need to sign up to explore the app. But if you want to contribute, you can create an account and begin uploading. The more people contributing — and especially tagging uploads with accurate metadata — the more powerful the collective map becomes.
You can also just post your findings here, as they’ll be reported on the app if missing.
So whether you’re just watching or actively contributing, know this: the project is ongoing. And if we stay consistent — focused, organized, and sharp — we’ll keep making sense of what others overlook.
I invite VC to use it, I understand that there is no need to, but it makes sense to me, this work is also in dedication to them and what I’ve learned here.
– Mighty
. They really do think we are idiots…
