What is Reddit? | Definition from TechTarget (2024)

What are subreddits and how do they work?

The site is composed of hundreds of subcommunities, known as subreddits. Each subreddit has a specific topic, such as technology, politics or music. Reddit's homepage, or the front page, as it is often called, is composed of the most popular posts from each default subreddit. The default list is predetermined and includes subreddits such as "pics," "funny," "videos," "news" and "gaming."

Reddit site members, also known as redditors, submit content which is then voted upon by other members. The goal is to send well-regarded content to the top of the site's front page. Content is voted on via upvotes and downvotes: arrows on which users click to the left of a post. The more upvotes a post gets, the more popular it becomes, and the higher up it appears on its respective subreddit or the front page. To access a subreddit via the address bar, simply type "reddit.com/r/subreddit name."

How to use Reddit

Upon arriving on the site's front page, users will notice a list of posts -- a collection of text posts, link posts, images and videos. When logged out of a Reddit account, the front page is composed of the site's default subreddits -- a list of about 50 topics including music, videos, news and GIFs, among others. After creating an account, users will automatically be "subscribed" to the list of default subreddits. Users can then unsubscribe to any of the default subreddits they do not wish to view, and they can subscribe to additional subreddits to get a personalized front page of content that interests them.

Users can also comment on posts after creating an account. Commenting is one of Reddit's core features, and it is the primary way for users to interact with each other, besides private messaging. Comments, like posts, can be voted on by users and are then ranked accordingly. The comment with the highest number of votes sits at the top of the comment section and is referred to as the top comment.

Reddit company information

Reddit is similar to Digg, another user-generated social networking site. Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian started Reddit in 2005, and Condé Nast Publications acquired the site in October 2006. Reddit split from Condé Nast in 2011, and now operates under Advance Publications. A July 8, 2012, NYMag.com article reported that 35 million new users sign up for Reddit every month.

Notable controversies

Since its inception, Reddit has been the subject of many controversies, some great enough to make the news.

Site statistics and user demographics

As of this writing, Reddit is the 24^th most-visited website in the world and the 7^th most-visited website in the United States, with the U.S. accounting for 46.9% of the site's visitors, according to web traffic data and analytics company Alexa Internet. According to a 2016 study by the Pew Research Center, 71% of Reddit's audience is composed of men.

Popular acronyms

Many acronyms are unique to Reddit. They are commonly found in post titles, subreddit rules and comments. The following is a breakdown of some of the most commonly used acronyms on the site.

• ELI5: Explain like I'm 5 -- A term used when redditors want something explained to them in very simple terms, as if they were a five-year-old asking for the answer to a question. A popular subreddit, explainlikeimfive, exists for this very purpose.
• TLDR or TL;DR: Too long; didn't read -- In some longer posts or comments, redditors may place a, "TLDR" at the end of their text for the purpose of shortening what they wrote if other redditors do not want to take the time to read the entire post.
• NSFW: Not safe for work -- When redditors make a post or comment that has explicit content, it is marked with this acronym to let other redditors know not to view the content at work or any place where explicit material would be unsuitable.
• TIL: Today I learned -- Used mainly in the form of "TIL" posts, this term is used when redditors want to share something new they learned.
• OP: Original poster -- The redditor who created the initial post.
• AMA: Ask me anything -- A popular acronym used on Reddit's "IAmA" subreddit, where redditors can post "AMA" threads. This is another name for a Q&A thread, where redditors answer questions about their life and, usually, their occupation. President Barack Obama made headlines when he participated in an AMA on Aug. 29, 2012. He was the first sitting president to do so.