Reddit is an American content rating, social news aggregation, and discussion website. Boasting hundreds of millions of users with over 100,000 active communities, Reddit is one of the most renowned websites globally.
Reddit users generally curate content they create themselves or discover on the internet, submitting it to their subreddit. Other users on that subreddit can comment, talk about, and vote on the content. The more upvotes a content has, the more popular it gets and climbs to the top of the relevant community. It is relatively easy for content to go viral within and sometimes outside Reddit and numerous users try to ride the wave of Reddit virality for marketing purposes or simply to enjoy it.
Before creating an account and logging in to the platform, users only enjoy posts from two Reddit communities; r/All and r/Popular. r/all collates the popular posts from most of Reddit. To prevent manipulation, the exact method for determining how a post gets picked up by r/all is unknown. However, the essential factors are the post’s age and score.
Creating an account on Reddit
The best way to enjoy Reddit is by creating an account and surfing its many contents. You can either create an account with your google account or Apple ID or with your email. One key difference between both is that creating an account with your Google account or Apple ID will see Reddit give you a randomly assigned username which you can change within 30 days before it gets permanent. On the other hand, you get to select your username when you open the account with your email. The username you select will be your permanent username.
To create the account, go to Reddit.com and click “Sign up” at the top right corner. This will direct you to an interface where you select whether to use your Apple ID, Google account, or email address. Choosing your Google account or your Apple ID will require you to log into either account. This will automatically create an account for you.
On the other hand, you can enter your email address, and you would enter a username and password of your choice. There will be suggested usernames that you can select from instead of racking your brain for one. After entering your select username and password, simply click sign up to create your account.
You should note that Reddit has an age limit, and the app does not permit users below 13 years to create an account on the platform.
How to join a community
Reddit is replete with communities, and you may need to search and join the communities you find interesting to keep getting content from that community. One of the fastest ways to join a community is by searching for it via the search box and visiting the community. The search bar is usually consistent in its location across all Reddit platforms except the mobile website, where you need to tap the three-line icon at the top right to reveal the search bar.
Simply input the community you want to join in the search bar and click on it when it appears; this will take you to the community’s homepage. Simply click “Join” on the community’s homepage to join the community, and you will continue to receive content from the community on your feed.
How to make posts
After joining communities and interacting enough, you may feel like posting content to the community. The first step is to go to the community’s homepage and click “create post” at the left-side railing on the subreddit’s homepage.
In the Create Post window, select what kind of content you intend to post. This may vary from text posts to media, sound, or polls. Different communities have their preferences regarding what members can post. On mobile apps, such types of content are greyed out.
Text posts require a title, while the body is discretionary. However, adding an exciting body is an excellent way to start a conversation and get your post attention. Likewise, media posts require a title and a video or photo that you can upload from your computer or mobile device.
If necessary, you may also tag your post with flairs to personalize or categorize it. Similarly, you may tag your post as NSFW or Spoiler to contextualize and help other users decide if they want to view the content.
Before clicking on “post,” ensure that your post does not break any community rules, as this will cause it to be automatically deleted after you post. Once you are certain of your post, you may click on “post.”
The steps are similar on a mobile app. However, to begin, you click on the + sign at the bottom of the relevant community’s homepage. This will pull up a window asking you to select what type of content you intend to post. After choosing the medium you prefer, fill the relevant boxes with the title and content you intend to post.
Instead of posting, you can also crosspost. Crossposting is a Reddit feature that allows users to take a post from a subreddit and share it with another. When such a user crossposts the post, it will include an embed of the original post and other vital information regarding the original post.
This includes the original poster’s username, community, and karma score on the original post. To crosspost via browser, first identify the post you intend to share and the destination community. After finding the content, click on the share icon on the post. This will display some options; simply click on “crosspost.”
Clicking on “crosspost” will direct you to a different tab. Here, you will select the community you want to send it to.
Generally, reddiquette (Reddit etiquette) demands that users should be civilized in their interactions. It also admonishes members to remember that there is always another human on the other side of the screen. Furthermore, Reddit frowns at trolling and spam or trolling, only tolerating self-promotion in moderation. As pointed out earlier, most communities have their rules. members can be punished via post removal, bans or suspensions if they flout them.