The fifth most visited website in the United States, Reddit, serves as a watercooler of the internet.[1] Using Reddit, people from across the world can have discussions on any topic that comes to mind. Reddit has over 330 million monthly active users who communicate on over 1.2 million categories of topics, known as subreddits.[2][3] Individual users have the opportunity to create new discussions based on these topics, participate in discussions created by others, and vote on the value of it all. The amount of information that is passed through Reddit is difficult to comprehend, but structure, user input, and algorithms help to keep the most relevant discussions active while weeding out less helpful content. This process turns information into knowledge.
Reddit is a forum which is driven by user submission of links, images, or posts which organized as threads. Other users can comment or vote on the initial submission, as well as reply to other commenters. Links, images, and posts are organized within subreddits, which keep all posts on a particular topic in one place.
Be prepared to be intimidated. When going to reddit.com, the homepage can seem overwhelming to new users. Reddit.com jumps you straight to what they call “the front page of the internet”. This is a page which is showing the “hottest” posts currently discussed on Reddit as defined by their algorithm. The screenshot below shows the front page for a new user. Most likely, you did not go to Reddit to find legal advice about cars being flooded in Australia.
This structure front page is not anything new and has a similar feel to the ones that were used in the late 2000s.
Even Reddit users have discussed Reddit’s initial experience as daunting in subreddits.
If the user decides that they want to become a “Redditor,” they follow a streamlined process. The first step is to submit general information in order to create an account. After selecting a username and password, Reddit asks the new user to identify communities of interest (a.k.a. subreddits) they are interested in. This allows Reddit to decide which information which is shown to the user.
This is the first time the user experiences information on Reddit as personalized. Reddit guides the user through the process by providing the user with a list of the most popular subreddits organized by category. Because subreddit names may not make sense to new users at this point, the categories use terms familiar to the user so the user can find the communities they would like to join. From this screen, users can also see how popular subreddits are based on the number of subscribers, as well as a short description of the subreddit. This information becomes useful when subreddits may have atypical names such as “todayilearned”.
Reddit provides users with a personalized front page. Once a user has created their account and selected the initial subreddits they would like to subscribe to, they are brought back to the homepage…except now it is personalized.
The user will then see the top posts from all of the subreddits they are subscribed to. The main body of the front page is organized by separate articles, each representing a post in one of the subscribed subreddits.
The order of the posts can be sorted in five different ways, selected by the user:
- Hot—algorithm of voting (information on voting is mentioned later) score and date posted
- New—most recent posts are at the top
- Controversial—posts with a high number of up-votes and down-votes
- Top— the highest score based on voting
- Rising—posts gaining popularity
Posts can also be filtered by how long since the post was originally posted.
Posts have different viewing options, which controls how much information a user will be able to see about an individual post. If a user is looking to scroll through topic titles, they may choose a condensed view, however users who would like to have more information about the post, they can choose an expanded view.
The posts themselves provide important information, such as the subreddit they are in when the post was originally posted, the title of the post, an image, the number of comments, as well as the current voting results.
From the homepage, a user can view individual posts or navigate to a specific subreddit. The user can navigate by clicking a subreddit name in a post, searching in the search navigation box, or selecting from a list of their subscribed subreddits. Once on a subreddit, the user will again see a list of posts, which all have to do with the subreddit selected. Similar to the home page, posts can be viewed and sorted in different ways.
After clicking into a post, the user can view the content shared by the original poster. The user can see comments from other users and comment on the post itself or comment on the comments. The comment field is clearly labeled, and include placeholder text “What are your thoughts?” which help to entice the user to submit their comment.
If a user is looking for information outside of their subscribed subreddits, they can use the search function at the top of the page. Reddit’s search function is a powerful way to navigate through the site. The search bar is on top of the screen can be used to search for subreddits as well as individual posts. Search results can be sorted in the same way as other posts.
Reddit makes it very easy to submit a post. A new post can be submitted by clicking a large “Create Post” button on the side of the screen. This button exists on the home page and also within subreddits. Clicking the button opens up a simple create a post and guides a user through the steps to create a post.
To post, the user first selects the subreddit, then the type of post. Reddit allows text posts, images and videos, and links. The post begins with a title which will be the focus of the post. Then the user can provide the text, image, or links for the body of the post.
Posts can be tagged with “spoiler” or “nsfw” to warn other users before they click into the post. Lastly, there is an opportunity for the user to receive notifications if their post is interacted with. Once all of the data is entered, the user will click “Post” to submit.
Reddit’s voting system allows users to indicate if the content submitted is valuable or not. Content that is valuable is upvoted and will move higher on the page than content that has a lower score from voting. This system puts ownership on the users to help the subreddit provide quality content. Reddit relies on this data to provide the most relevant information to users.
In addition to the voting system, Reddit users have “Karma”. Karma is a score which is visible next to a username and is a number which indicates how much good the user has done for the Reddit community.[4] Users gain karma for submitting quality content that receives upvotes from other users. Though karma provides no monetary award, it provides a quantitative measure to show the quality of a user.
Once familiar with the structure of Reddit, a user can easily navigate to their subscribed subreddits, or search for new posts or subreddits. Starting with the homepage, users are shown the most relevant posts of their subscribed subreddits. A user can choose to interact with these topics, post a brand new topic, or navigate to a specific subreddit all from the homepage. If viewing a subreddit, the user can view all of the posts, up-vote and down-vote topics, and also submit a new post. One inside a post, a user can vote on the post, reply to the post, vote on comments, and reply to comments. At any time a user can decide to jump to another subreddit or search for new topics in the menu bar.
This user flow illustrates how users are presented with repeat options on each page. This allows users to become used to navigating Reddit and allow them to easily provide content at any page, whether it is voting, commenting, or submitting a new post. User submission is what drives Reddit and this user flow provides many opportunities to submit content.
Though Reddit does a great job at providing access to a large amount of user-submitted information, there are two areas for improvement.
- The front page is intimidating to new users. To a new visitor, the Reddit homepage seems disorganized and hard to see how information on Reddit can be helpful.
- Subreddit suggestions are not readily available. During the signup process, Reddit provides new users with suggestions for new Subreddit subscriptions. This same option should be used to help an existing user find more ways to gain knowledge from Reddit.
Reddit uses a simplified and consistent structure to successfully organize the ideas and comments of millions of people on over a million different topics. Creating individual communities where user inputs are peer-reviewed and using algorithms to present the most relevant information allow users to join the right conversation and gain knowledge from the community. Though it may be intimidating at first, Reddit has become a great place to learn new information from others.
- “Top Sites in United States.” Alexa. Retrieved from https://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/US.
- “Reddit by the Numbers.” Reddit Inc. Retrieved from https://www.redditinc.com/.
- Richter, Felix. “The Explosive Growth of Reddit’s Community.” Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/chart/11882/number-of-subreddits-on-reddit/.
- Marantz, Andrew. “Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet”. The New Yorker. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/19/reddit-and-the-struggle-to-detoxify-the-internet.
Article published for Information Design and Architecture course as part of Northwestern University’s Master of Science in Informational Design and Strategy program.
