What is Reddit?

Well, it has more than 1.5 billion users and is the sixth most-visited site in the U.S. – which means more people visit it than Instagram, Twitter , eBay, LinkedIn, or Netflix.

Only what is Reddit?!

Why is Reddit so hard to define? I hateful, even if y'all don't use LinkedIn , you probably know what it is.

Reddit is confusing because it's in a niche of its own.

The platform is a melting pot of trends, media, micro-communities, micro-cultures, and within jokes – and that'south what makes it crawly.

Once you learn the basics, you lot'll find a whole new globe of possibilities.

And so, what is Reddit and why does information technology refer to itself as "the front page of the internet"? This article will teach y'all everything you lot need to know to become started.

Post Contents

  • What is Reddit?
  • What is a Subreddit?
  • Is Reddit Social Media?
  • What is Reddit Karma?
  • Start Posting and Commenting on Reddit
  • Search Before You Share on Reddit
  • Understanding Reddit'due south Language and Jargon
    • A Glossary of Reddit Terms
  • How to Use Reddit for Business organization
  • Reddiquette: Stick to the Rules or Face the Consequences
  • Summary
  • Want to Learn More than?

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What is Reddit?

Reddit combines web content , social news, a forum, and a social network into one giant animate being of a platform. Registered members tin can contribute to the site with content such as images, text, videos, and links. All content on the site tin be voted upwards or down by other members.

This meritocratic organisation ensures that interesting content rises to the acme and uninteresting content falls into an completeness. As a effect, Reddit is the birthplace of almost internet memes and viral sensations .

Reddit truly is another world.

That's why Reddit'south iconic alien , "Snoo," is such a perfect mascot for this oddball customs-based platform.

What is a Subreddit?

As mentioned, Reddit works a bit like a forum.

A subreddit is a micro-community within Reddit and is based on a certain topic – and there's a subreddit for everything. Sure, yous've got your usual topics covered with subreddits like:

  • Crafts: r/SomethingIMade or r/Crafts
  • Travel: /r/travel/ or /r/backpacking/
  • Business concern: r/entrepreneur or r/smallbusiness
  • Fitness: r/Fitness or /r/GYM/
  • Cooking: r/cooking or r/AskCulinary

But it doesn't stop there.

Whatever yous can recall of , at that place will be a subreddit almost it. I'one thousand dead serious.

Don't believe me? Well, cheque this out…

There's a dedicated subreddit for people to share Photoshopped images featuring birds with human arms: /r/birdswitharms/ There'southward another subreddit where people share, quite literally, pointless stories: /r/pointlessstories

Or ow about the subreddit r/CatsStandingUp ? Information technology's an entire customs of people posting pictures and videos of – you guessed it – cats standing up.

These niche communities each have their ain rules, etiquette, subscribers, and posts.

You lot tin view the subreddit'due south rules in the right-hand sidebar:

At the height of each subreddit feed, yous can use the drop-down menu to sort posts by:

  • Hot: Posts that are pop right now
  • New: Recently shared posts
  • Controversial: Posts that are receiving a relatively equal amount of upvotes and downvotes
  • Top: The most popular posts in a subreddit
  • Rising: Posts that are currently receiving a lot of upvotes

Niche communities, content voting, and the ability to filter posts past Hot, New, Controversial, Top, and Rising are key to the Reddit experience. These features permit interesting posts to gain massive traction quickly.

Although it'south extremely unlikely, if at that place'due south a subreddit that doesn't exist, you lot can ever create your own subreddit .

A social media website is commonly defined equally a network platform that people use to share and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities.

Reddit meets these criteria.

Merely is Reddit social media? Really?

On nearly social media platforms, users take profiles, personal feeds, and predominantly use the website to grow relationships with other people.

Reddit doesn't exactly fit this description.

Instead, Reddit is more like a forum where aggregated content takes eye stage and uses are generally anonymous.

Ph.D. Researcher Tim Squirrel sums upwardly the site beautifully : "If Facebook is people you know sharing things you don't care virtually, Reddit is things you care about shared by people you don't know."

Okay, but is Reddit social media?!

In short, aye. Notwithstanding, it's certainly dissimilar from most social networking platforms.

The core deviation lies in Reddit's community values. Reddit values contribution to the community and feel of others over individuals. The aim is to create value equally office of a community that exists in a subreddit.

In other words: On Reddit, information technology isn't about you. It's about the collective.

As a result, dissimilar well-nigh social media platforms, Reddit isn't big on user-generated content .

For example, it's okay to post a shameless selfie or a picture of your breakfast on Instagram. However, if you do this on Reddit, you should await a tidal wave of hateful comments and downvotes.

Some might say that at that place are ii kinds of people in the world: those who don't use or understand Reddit, and Redditors – the diehard fans of the website.

So, how can you go a Redditor? How to Use Reddit

Now that we've answered the question, "What is Reddit?" let's dive in.

First things kickoff: Reddit thrives on anonymity.

Most users don't utilise their real names or birth yr in their usernames, and it's strongly discouraged.

What's more than, it's common for users to have a couple of "main" accounts and several "throwaway accounts" they utilize for specific situations or subreddits. For case, check out the usernames used by the moderators of the subreddit /r/backpacking :

This creates a peculiar phenomenon.

The widespread anonymity really provides a foundation for openness – in other words, pretty much annihilation goes on Reddit. You can share and interact freely. Plus, this anonymity is kept in bank check by transparency.

All users can see each other'due south entire posting and commenting history. This makes it like shooting fish in a barrel for subreddit communities and moderators to police themselves and learn how authentic a person is based on their previous posts and "Reddit karma." So, when creating an account, consider using an bearding username.

It'due south like shooting fish in a barrel to create an business relationship . You just need an email accost, a username that isn't already in use, and a password.

When yous beginning sign up, Reddit will suggest popular subreddits to subscribe to. Then, you lot tin head to reddit.com/subreddits to search for more subreddits.

Here, you tin can besides use the tabs at the pinnacle of the page to navigate subreddits.

Next upwardly?

What is Reddit Karma?

Due to the anonymity, Reddit uses "karma" to establish the credibility of users. Every user's profile shows the number of karma points they've accrued.

Every bit your karma increases, so does your influence on the site. The more karma you accept, the more than seriously other users will take you.

All the same, at that place are 2 kinds of karma:

  • Mail karma is earned from upvotes on the posts you share in subreddits.
  • Comment karma is earned from upvotes on comments you exit on posts.

You can also lose karma if other users downvote your posts and comments enough that the score falls below zip. So, how tin you lot grow your karma on Reddit?

First, make sure to subscribe to subreddits that you experience you're able to actively participate in and contribute to. What are your interests and hobbies? Do y'all have specialist cognition, experience, or skills? So, become an active participant in your called subreddits.

Ideally, you should share elevation quality posts and comment on other people'south posts regularly. It too helps to reply to comments on your ain posts.

You could also head to r/askreddit and ask or reply questions.

Building up karma on Reddit takes time and dedication, and so aim to contribute positively and oftentimes.

Offset Posting and Commenting on Reddit

Reddit really is all near interaction.

Private contributions to subreddits, posts, and discussions are the lifeblood of the site. Posting and commenting on Reddit is as well how you get upvotes which increase your karma.

To share a new mail , just caput to a subreddit and click, "Create Post" nether the subreddit championship and description.

There are iii principal types of posts that you tin share on Reddit:

  • Mail service: Write something and perhaps add some media to go along with it.
  • Image & Video: Share media files with a uncomplicated title.
  • Link: Share a link with a elementary title to take visitors to another webpage or piece of content.

Information technology's worth noting that subreddits will sometimes limit you to but 1 of these three types of posts.

Earlier yous share something, make sure you use the Reddit search feature to cheque that y'all're not reposting something that's already been shared – Redditors frown upon this.

Y'all tin can utilise shortcodes to search more accurately. For example, if you want to search for the word "cats" in mail service titles, search " title:cats ".

Here is a list of some of Reddit's search queries that you can utilize:

  • Author: The user who submitted the post.
    For example, author:PresidentObama
  • NSFW: NSFW posts.
    Set to yep for NSFW submissions; otherwise, set to no. i and 0 are as well supported.
    For example, nsfw:no or nsfw:0
  • Selftext: For self-posts, the torso of the post.
    For example, selftext:cats
  • Site: The domain of the submitted URL.
    For case, site:case.com
  • Subreddit: The submission'due south subreddit.
    For example, subreddit:cats
  • Title: The submission title.
    For example, title:cats
  • URL: The submission's URL (the website's address).
    For example, url:cats

You can also search multiple fields at once, such as, " cats subreddit:pics site:imgur.com ".

Lastly, try to make sure that whatever you share contributes something new and interesting to the subreddit…

… unless you're posting in /r/pointlessstories that is.

Understanding Reddit'due south Language and Jargon

After spending some time browsing Reddit posts and reading comments, you'll notice that Redditors have adult their ain jargon.

There are tons of abbreviations and special words used to communicate.

When starting out, it helps to get the basics nether your belt. And so, here's a glossary of common Reddit terms to help y'all immerse yourself in this new world.

A Glossary of Reddit Terms

AMA : "Inquire Me Anything." An invitation for Redditors to enquire any questions with the hope that they'll answer. Information technology frequently starts with "I Am A [something interesting nearly yourself], Ask Me Annihilation." Check out r/AMA for examples.

AMAA : "Ask Me Nigh Anything."

IAMA: "I Am A." The start of a post in which notable people are interviewed by the Reddit customs. It's featured guests similar President Obama, Snoop Dogg, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Also a subreddit – /r/IAMA .

Brave or And then Dauntless : Used to sarcastically dismiss a annotate or to patronize someone going along with popular opinion.

Block 24-hour interval : The date a user joined Reddit – like a altogether. Block days are displayed on user profiles.

DAE: "Does Anyone Else." An appeal to a common feeling or situation. Also a subreddit – /r/DAE .

EDIT: An indication that someone has changed their annotate after kickoff posting it.

ETA : "Edited To Add" something.

ELI5: "Explain Like I'm 5 (Years Old)." A request to explain something in very uncomplicated terms.  Too a subreddit – /r/explainlikeimfive .

FTFY: "Fixed That For You." When a user makes a small edit of a previous comment that changes the meaning in a helpful or humorous way.

IIRC : "If I Recollect Correctly."

MIC: "More In Comments."

Novelty Account : An account specifically used for humorous purposes. Often used to share jokes related to the account'southward username.

OP : "Original Poster." The person who first submitted the post that'due south being commented on.

Power User : A Reddit user with a loftier karma score who is well-known to many people on Reddit.

RTFA : "Read the F***ing Article."

THIS : An indication that yous concord wholeheartedly with a annotate and want to depict attention to information technology. These comments are frequently downvoted. TIL: "Today I Learned." Something a user just learned and wants to share. As well a subreddit – r/TodayILearned .

TL;DR: "Too Long; Didn't Read." A short description of a longer slice of text. Information technology can be shared by the original commenter or some other user.

Whoooosh : Used to point that a joke has "gone over someone'due south head" and that they didn't sympathize information technology.

10-Mail service : "Cantankerous Post." An indication that something has already been posted in some other subreddit.

These are just some of the more common ones – if you're in demand of more Reddit lingo help, check out the full lossary here . How to Use Reddit for Business organization

How to Use Reddit for Business

Redditors are quick to shoot downwards anyone who engages in self-promotion, marketing, URL shorteners, and annihilation else that makes information technology seem similar you're using Reddit as a place to sell something.

Recall, this platform is all nearly customs.

So, while you might be tempted to attempt to sneak your products into a subreddit like r/shutupandtakemymoney , in that location's always the chance it might backfire and damage your business concern' make. How can you use Reddit for concern?

Well, the safest mode to use Reddit for business organization is to utilize Reddit ads .

These ads are tolerated because advertisers are being upfront about their intention to promote their business concern. Plus, they're using a dedicated infinite for promotions instead of clogging upward subreddit feeds with self-serving content.

Reddit ads allow you to target people based on the subreddits they subscribe to. This means you lot can promote your marketing messages straight to specific, passionate, and engaged niches.

Reddiquette: Stick to the Rules or Face the Consequences

"Reddiquette" is the name given to Reddit'southward item rules and etiquette – which you've probably realized by at present is vast .

You lot can read Reddit'southward full reddiquette guide hither .

It's extremely important to stick to reddiquette to avoid beingness "shadowbanned."

Considering of anonymity and the widespread utilize of multiple accounts, Reddit created "shadowbanning."

This is the term used to describe the human action of banning a user from all of Reddit if they break the rules – without the user existence notified .

The shadowbanned user'due south posts and comments will go along to testify up for them, but other people won't see them.

This prevents users who abuse the rules from simply setting upward another account to go on their misbehavior.

However, a shadowbanned users contour will display an error page.

Plus, you can log out and bank check your profile if you think you've been shadowbanned. And if y'all experience you lot've been unfairly shadowbanned, you can follow these guidelines .

Then, how tin you lot avoid being shadowbanned?

Well, bullying, insults, personal attacks, illegal activities, trolling, and posting someone's personal information on Reddit will all become you shadowbanned.

In other words, simply play dainty.

Whenever you engage on the site, always consider other people and the community get-go. Aim to contribute and add together value. Also, call back to check and follow each subreddit'due south private guidelines.

Summary

Reddit is a rare brood of social network.

It values customs and contribution more than than the individual. And it'due south the place to observe new trends, memes, and viral sensations before the rest of the world hears well-nigh them.

Call back:

  • Reddit thrives on anonymity, and it's a place where pretty much annihilation goes.
  • There's a thriving niche community for seemingly every interest or topic.
  • The best way to use Reddit is to find ways to contribute to subreddits and comment threads.
  • It can take time to accumulate karma points, but every bit yous do, your influence will grow .
  • There's a strict lawmaking of ethics, and reddiquette is taken very seriously.
  • The safest way to utilise Reddit for business is to use Reddit ads.
  • Be sure not to abuse the customs for cocky-serving purposes.

Have y'all plant whatsoever great subreddits to check out? Let united states of america know in the comments below!

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