# Reddit

> American social news aggregation website and discussion portal

**Wikidata**: [Q1136](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1136)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/reddit

## Summary

Reddit is a member of the Internet Association.[1]

## Summary
Reddit is an American social news aggregation and discussion platform launched on 23 June 2005 by Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, and Aaron Swartz. Users submit content—links, text, images, videos—to themed communities called “subreddits,” where it is voted up or down by members to determine visibility on the site.

## Key Facts
- Inception: 23 June 2005, San Francisco, United States
- Founders: Steve Huffman (“spez”), Alexis Ohanian (“kn0thing”), Aaron Swartz
- CEO: Steve Huffman (re-appointed 2015)
- Operator: Reddit Inc. (owned by Condé Nast 2006-2011; independent since)
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California
- Primary language: Multilingual; interface available in 100+ languages as of 2021-06-23
- Site ranking: Similarweb global rank 8 (Sept 2025), Alexa 19 (May 2021)
- License: Common Public Attribution License (open-source until 2017-09-01)
- Mascot: “Snoo,” an alien figure
- ISIN: US75734B1008

## FAQs
### Q: What exactly is a subreddit?
A: A subreddit is a user-created forum dedicated to a specific topic (e.g., r/science). Each subreddit has its own rules, moderators, and front page that ranks posts by up-votes and down-votes.

### Q: Is Reddit free to use?
A: Browsing, posting, and commenting are free. Optional “Reddit Premium” (formerly Reddit Gold) removes ads and adds perks; coins can be bought to award posts.

### Q: How does content rise or fall on Reddit?
A: Members click “up” or “down” arrows to vote. Posts and comments with higher net up-votes appear nearer the top of a subreddit or the front page; negative scores hide content.

### Q: Who runs individual subreddits?
A: Volunteer moderators (“mods”) enforce rules and can remove posts or ban users. Site-wide operations and policy are managed by Reddit employees (“admins”).

## Why It Matters
Reddit is often called “the front page of the internet” because its voting system surfaces breaking news, viral memes, and expert insights faster than many traditional outlets. With hundreds of millions of monthly users and more than 100,000 active subreddits, the platform functions as a real-time barometer of public opinion and a vast knowledge repository—r/AskHistorians, r/AskScience, and r/IAmA host verified experts, while niche hobby communities archive hard-to-find information impossible to assemble elsewhere. The open, pseudonymous environment has fueled grassroots movements, charitable drives, and whistle-blowing, but also content controversies that forced the company to evolve from a free-speech bastion toward stricter moderation. For marketers, journalists, and researchers, Reddit’s candid discussions provide unfiltered sentiment data; for individuals, it offers peer support, learning resources, and entertainment tailored to almost any interest. Its influence on meme culture, political fundraising, and even stock-market volatility (e.g., r/WallStreetBets) makes Reddit a persistent force in online life.

## Notable For
- First major social site to rely almost entirely on community voting rather than algorithmic or editorial curation
- One of the last large platforms to maintain a pseudonymous default, encouraging candid discussion
- Home of the “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) format that has drawn U.S. Presidents, astronauts, and hundreds of subject-matter experts
- Operates a Tor onion service since 2022-10-25, enhancing privacy access
- Ranked in Similarweb’s top-10 global websites as of 2025 despite minimal traditional advertising

## Body
### Early History
Reddit emerged from the inaugural batch of Y Combinator in summer 2005. Founders Huffman and Ohanian coded the site in Lisp, then rewrote it in Python in December 2005; Aaron Swartz joined soon after. Condé Nast acquired the startup in October 2006, spinning it back out as an independent company in 2011.

### Technical Stack
The backend was open-source under the Common Public Attribution License from 17 June 2008 until 1 September 2017. Reddit currently uses Python for core services and React for its front end; it has relied on Amazon Web Services for hosting since 2009.

### Governance & Policy
Each subreddit is created and moderated by volunteers; Reddit staff intervene only for site-wide rule violations such as harassment, illegal content, or ban evasion. A series of content-policy updates (2015, 2018, 2020) banned hate-based communities and tightened harassment standards.

### Business & Funding
Investors include Advance Publications (parent of Condé Nast), Tencent, Sequoia Capital, and others. Revenue comes mainly from advertising and optional premium memberships; the firm filed confidential IPO paperwork in 2021.

### Mobile & Accessibility
Official mobile apps for iOS and Android were released in 2016; third-party clients once flourished but most shut after API pricing changes in mid-2023. Old.Reddit.com and compact views remain popular with desktop power users.

### Cultural Impact
Reddit’s “Ask Me Anything” series has hosted Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and astronauts aboard the ISS. Subreddits like r/SuicideWatch, r/Random_Acts_Of_Pizza, and r/Place demonstrate the platform’s capacity for support, charity, and collaborative art experiments.

## Schema Markup
```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Thing",
  "name": "Reddit",
  "description": "American social news aggregation and discussion website founded in 2005.",
  "url": "https://www.reddit.com/",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1138",
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit"
  ],
  "additionalType": "Social Networking Service"
}

## References

1. [Source](https://www.redditinc.com/)
2. [Source](https://github.com/reddit/reddit/blob/master/LICENSE)
3. [The reddit Open Source Project on Open Hub: Languages Page. Open Hub](https://www.openhub.net/p/reddit/analyses/latest/languages_summary)
4. [Source](https://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/o6ipy5/introducing_reddit_in_new_languages/)
5. [Trustpilot](https://ca.trustpilot.com/review/www.blog.reddit.com)
6. [Source](https://internetassociation.org/our-members/)
7. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
8. [Source](https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/reddit-data-breach)
9. [Reddit - Dive into anything](https://reddit.com/)
10. [Source](https://www.reddit.com/r/redditsecurity/comments/yd6hqg/reddit_onion_service_launch/)
11. [Reddit Privacy Policy](https://www.reddit.com/help/privacypolicy)
12. [Source](https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/reddit.com)
13. [Source](https://www.reddit.com/user/reddit)
14. [Reddit Reviews | Read Customer Service Reviews of ads.reddit.com](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/ads.reddit.com)
15. [Reddit Reviews | Read Customer Service Reviews of reddit.it](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/reddit.it)
16. YouTube API
17. YouTube channel page
18. [reddit · GitHub Topics · GitHub](https://github.com/topics/reddit)
19. [Source](https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/)
20. [Source](https://www.similarweb.com/website/reddit.com)
21. [Reddit - Official TF2 Wiki | Official Team Fortress Wiki](https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Reddit)
22. [Reddit (@reddit) on Threads](https://www.threads.net/@reddit)
23. [Reddit - sh.itjust.works](https://sh.itjust.works/c/reddit@lemmy.world)
24. [Reddit (Website) - SteamGridDB](https://www.steamgriddb.com/game/5328429)
25. [Internet Domains Wikibase](https://domains.wikibase.cloud/entity/Q3174)