Reddit is a social news and entertainment website where registered users submit content in the form of either a link or a text. The website is known for its open nature and diverse user community that generate its content– which includes everything from serious articles to silly memes. It was founded in June 2005 just up the road in Medford, Massachusetts by two 22 year old University of Virginia graduates. As of May 2013, the site had almost 70 million unique users from 180 countries. According to Google Ad Planner’s estimate, the average Reddit user is male (59%), 25-34 years of age, and is connecting from the United States.
Reddit’s community is so prevalent they have developed their own sort of language. The content is either upvoted (liked) or downvoted (disliked) which adjusts its placement on the page to be more visible on top or less visible pushed to the bottom. This creates the original posters “karma” which is a type of score. The users yearly anniversary of when they became a Redditor is called their cake day. A lurker is someone like myself who uses the website frequently but does not post my own content. Reddit Gold is a way to pay for the site which I will explain later. A throwaway account is made by a Redditor who is posting something embarrassing or personal and wants to keep their identity anonymous/separate from their normal account. TL;DR is a quick summary at the end of longer posts. Most importantly, subreddits are smaller Reddit communities based on a specific topic.
This sort of language is very common among social media. Think about all the common terms that exist today that were unheard of (or had totally different meaning) ten years ago. Back when only birds tweeted and poking was just weird..well that still is.
Subreddits are symbolized by reddit.com/r/< insert topic>. The subreddit that has made Reddit most famous is AMA- also known as Ask Me Anything. This is where a user posts what they are (IamA) and others use the comment system to ask questions in which the original poster answers directly. A number of notable individuals have participated in AMAs. During his 2012 campaign, President Obama created one that is still the highest rated on the site. The increased traffic on that day brought down many parts of the website. Other notable individuals include Madonna, Bill Gates, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. You don’t have to be famous either– interesting will gain attention as well. Other popular AMAs include IamA homeless man, rocket scientist, or have tourrets.
Here is an example of the BC Subreddit so you can see what Redditors consider to be BC’s top content.
Reddit Gold is their premium membership program that includes extra features to make the experience better with special benefits. Reddit takes no payment but instead you pay for the “gold” then give it to a worth post/comment. Reddit hopes in turn this helps the program worth subscribing to. However, the site has not yet been profitable. These benefits include:
- Highlights new comments
- Remembers links you’ve visited
- Coupons to different Reddit affiliates
- Notifications when you’re mentioned in comments
- More content per page
- Saves comments
- Turns off ads
Reddit has a lot of untapped potential and will continue to become more prevalent as it gains users. As of now, it is a great way to explore the internet and of course, waste time.
Go check it out– www.reddit.com
jordanboniface 