If you’re unfamiliar with the universe of Reddit you are missing out on some serious internet pleasure as well as a great social media marketing tactic. Founded in 2005 by a couple of students with some time on their hands, this bulletin board is home to one of the most vibrant, clever, nutty and hilarious communities online, numbering hundreds of millions of visitors each month.
Reddit is divided to thematic sections called “subreddits.” In each section, members post forum-like threads of content – it could be a link, a story, a photo, a survey, etc. – accumulating replies as well as “up” or “down” votes to rate the quality of the post. The end result is a multitude of original and fun content that will take up hours of your day if you don’t practice self-control.
To illustrate more clearly what makes Reddit so awesome and addictive, we compiled a list of our favorite Reddit qualities. If you’re a dedicated redditor, feel free to share yours in the comments:
1. Because It’s Not about Showing Off
Restroom selfies? Not in here! Unless you’re going for sarcasm, that is. Reddit is not a social network that encourages (or imposes) the type of non-stop exhibitionism that you find on so many other social platforms. A redditor’s profile only shows you their previous threads and their ranking – no relationship status, business CV or anything like that.
2. Because of the AMA Subreddit
Ask Me Anything is one of the most popular and intriguing sections on the site. Anyone can go on it, present a certain aspect of their life and take questions from the audience. The interactions vary from a self-proclaimed “extreme couponer” being asked if store clerks hate him to President Barack Obama asked to share the recipe for the White House beer.
3. Because You Learn So Much!
There’s a reason why Reddit is so popular with the nerdy slice of the world’s population. It’s an incredible source of information on pretty much every field of human knowledge. You can browse through the many subreddits in philosophy, languages, coding, molecular gastronomy or whatever makes your mind hungry. Our recommendation: Don’t skip the Today I Learned subreddit, which contains hours of fun, enlightening and sometimes utterly useless trivia bits.
4. Because It’s A Community
Reddit has a bad reputation for being filled with trolls and anonymous weirdos. While these users are definitely around, they are not representative of the majority of redditors at all. You will find people giving free legal advice, comforting others in pain, help members to organize surprises for loved ones, and many other kind acts.
Need proof? Our favorite for the moment is this guy soliciting photos from around the world to make a special engagement proposal to his sweetheart.
5. Because Redditors Have the Best and Craziest Humor
A group of people get together to count up to a million 1,001,805. This is not a social experiment, it’s a Reddit pastime. The counting games are just one example of the whacky and hilarious fun that Reddit brings out of people. On another occasion, a “test post please ignore” thread got 2,205 snarky comments.
If these seem too random for you, don’t worry about it. You’ll definitely crack up at this thread of parents sharing their kids’ funniest moments, or at the Not The Onion subreddit for news that is too crazy to be true.