Reddit: how it works and complete guide

Reddit is an undoubtedly interesting and completely free Internet site very popular in the United States and which is starting to become popular with us too. Its name comes from the English pun “I read it on Reddit“, In our language: I read it on Reddit. As of February 2018, estimates indicated that the total number of its users worldwide was over 542 million users per month.

In this in-depth analysis you will find out how this atypical social network works and the reasons that make it so interesting.

How does Reddit work?

The site is structured almost like a forum: each specific topic is presented in a discussion that has a dedicated section, called subreddit. Each subreddit therefore talks about a different topic and has its own address, for example reddit.com/r/italy.

Users can find and publish content of their interest, mostly still in English but there is no shortage of subreddits in Italian.

The method with which the social network every day gives greater notoriety to the published contents, follows the rules of social news: each post can be rated by each individual user who can give you a positive or negative vote (upvote and downvote) and the amount of positive interactions will determine whether the post is highlighted or not. This process clearly results in moving posts or comments up, which have more positive reactions.

This mechanic helps make the Reddit community dynamic, fun, and often quite welcoming. It is no coincidence that we say “fun”, precisely because Reddit is one of the best sources of Meme on the net.

How do they work and what are Karma points?

The peculiarity of this social network lies in the accumulation of points, called “Karma points“. It can accumulate authority in the community thanks to the number of positive reactions added by other users to our comments or posts.

Karma points are not a real currency but allow their owner to be considered and respected within the community, for having demonstrated its value in the quality of the interactions performed. This system makes Reddit one of the most democratic social networks.

The importance of Reddiquette on Reddit

The functioning of this particular platform passes from the respect of a precise regulation, referred to by specialists as “Reddiquette”, A term derived from the fruit salad word Netiquette.

Some of the rules proposed by this courtesy regulation they consist of using special labels to define certain types of content. For example “NSFW”- Not Safe For Work, in our language“ not safe at work ”- will indicate that the post will contain erotic content or not suitable for a public place (and therefore in the workplace).

Another tag very popular is formed by the acronym “BUT”- Ask Me Anything, in Italian“ ask me anything ”- through which many stars and famous people tell their lives, inspired by the questions posed to them by online users.

It is better to learn Reddiquette before jumping into the fray and avoid accumulating downvotes (negative relationships) by mistake.

Reddit friends and community

The site also provides for the operation of a system to forge relationships with other people, through the creation of a special list of friends thanks to which we will be able to see the interactions and comments of people close to us. In addition, Reddit keeps track of the day of our registration, so much so that we celebrate the anniversary once a year with a cake badge visible to all that will be added to our profile.

The large number of subscribers, the friendship system and the code of conduct make Reddit similar to a social platform but with the necessary differences: in fact, thanks to its system of subdivision of the topics, the posts around which the redditors they discuss, very often they become places in which to foster debates and create innovative ideas, with greats resonance capacity.

There are many researches that underline this aspect of the platform, through which we can glimpse some dynamics established by the presence of a group and community intelligence.

The facts confirm that sometimes on Reddit, the sites mentioned within the subreddits receive a much greater traffic load than what their servers are able to manage, so much so as to force the owners to perform maintenance operations. Consequently, we understand the advertising potential of this platform.

What is surprising is that Reddit does not carry the Zuckerberg brand (like Facebook and Instagram) from which we would expect similar numbers; its popularity continues to grow, creating more and more engagement and offering a quality service to its users with a wide choice of interesting topics and discussions to participate in.

How to sign up for Reddit

The registration procedure is one of the most immediate among those of social networks and forums:

At this point you will be correctly registered and you will be able to have access to everything the social network has to offer.

At the first access Reddit will invite us to choose the communities we are most interested in, so as to propose inherent contents. Immediately after we will have the freedom to explore the social network. One of the first things we recommend doing is choosing your username and image. Doing so is really simple: