1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

What is "Reddit" and how does it work?

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by Benway, Feb 14, 2016.

  1. Benway

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2015
    Messages:
    952
    Likes Received:
    66
    Location:
    Interzone
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    A few people
    I keep seeing the word "Reddit" or "subreddit" everywhere online, I've gone to reddit.com, but I have no idea what I'm looking at. I tried reading the Wikipedia article for it, but it doesn't make any sense to me. What is Reddit and how does it work?
     
  2. Vav

    Vav Guest

    It's an online community where people post links or text posts.
     
  3. Benway

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2015
    Messages:
    952
    Likes Received:
    66
    Location:
    Interzone
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    A few people
    So it's some sort of message board? That's kind of what it appears to be when I look at the site, but I've never seen posts so disorganized the way they are, there. I can't even tell what it is I'm looking at...
     
  4. Vav

    Vav Guest

    It's organized by upvotes and downvotes.
     
  5. Argentwing

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2012
    Messages:
    6,696
    Likes Received:
    3
    Location:
    New England
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    It's a general forum. The reason it looks so disorganized is because the front page is just the most popular content. As Vav said, it's fairly recent stuff that gets a ton of upvotes. Subreddits are boards sort of like "Technology and Gaming" on here that are more specific in their content. There are subreddits for basically everything, so just click around.

    It's a fantastic site. :slight_smile:
     
  6. xenu

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2015
    Messages:
    117
    Likes Received:
    22
    Location:
    Tulsa
  7. Benway

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2015
    Messages:
    952
    Likes Received:
    66
    Location:
    Interzone
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    A few people
    I am looking at it, I don't know what it is! There's no login or register option, there's no forum selection or search that I can see, it's just... chaos. Is it like 4Chan, like, no registration/anonymous stuff? Or is it more like a message board? I honestly don't get it.
     
  8. Vav

    Vav Guest

    [​IMG]
     
  9. Artemisarked

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2015
    Messages:
    59
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Gender:
    Male
    Short, watered-down version: Reddit is a bunch of small communities with different interests, all on one website.

    And I guess for function, each subreddit (or, community on Reddit) works as its own forum.
     
    #9 Artemisarked, Feb 14, 2016
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2016
  10. Benway

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2015
    Messages:
    952
    Likes Received:
    66
    Location:
    Interzone
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    A few people
    Well that's great, but how do you navigate it? Also, am I the only person who still uses a computer and doesn't post from their phone?
     
  11. Argentwing

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2012
    Messages:
    6,696
    Likes Received:
    3
    Location:
    New England
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I use a PC. :slight_smile: It can be a little obtuse as not a lot is shown to you. But how could it, with the staggering number of subs? It shows a random selection of boards across the top along with the permanent ones like "hot, new, controversial, etc." that are usually pretty cool.

    I tend to stick to a few boards. But if you find one you like, you can subscribe to it in order for its posts to show up on your "hot" tab, otherwise known as the main page. Just type something into the search bar and see what comes up. I'd be surprised if there isn't a sub for literally everything.
     
  12. Ryu

    Ryu
    Full Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2014
    Messages:
    79
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Under a rock according to 'cool' people
    I don't get it, even on the sub reddits. It's just a mess of words and lines under words.
     
  13. Benway

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2015
    Messages:
    952
    Likes Received:
    66
    Location:
    Interzone
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    A few people
    See, I don't even know how to get to the subreddits, I'm not even sure if I'm not looking at one when I open the main page... How do I navigate the site properly to find communities I want to be a part of? I really want to re-establish my online persona and Reddit would seem to be the place to do that but I have no idea what it is I'm looking at whenever I go there.

    Thank heavens, another computer user. Soon we're all going to be on tablets. I shudder, as I know the day is coming.

    I see "hot," "new" and "controversial" but what about all these other subreddit 'communities you hear about? Obtuse doesn't even begin to describe the clunkiness of its layout. I cannot find the search bar you speak of, but I will attempt to make an account there and perhaps dip my toes in the proverbial waters of this Reddit thing.
     
  14. Argentwing

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2012
    Messages:
    6,696
    Likes Received:
    3
    Location:
    New England
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    ^^Should be on the top right, above "submit a new link" and possibly an ad.

    It really does become easier to use once you get into it. It's just a regular forum that's arranged slightly differently, so can be weird at first.
     
  15. Jellal

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2014
    Messages:
    1,359
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Gender:
    Female (trans*)
    I use it to get links to my favorite manga updates, but that's it. I realized that spending time on reddit itself kinda eats into my schedule too much.
     
  16. gravechild

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2013
    Messages:
    3,425
    Likes Received:
    110
    Gender:
    Androgyne
    Gender Pronoun:
    They
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    A few people
    It's like a more PG version of the Chan, from what I've seen and heard. I think I've viewed topics on just about every interest of mine, simply because it pops up on Google, is fairly active, and has decent conversations. Same with Quora.
     
  17. larkcarmen

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2015
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    southern usa
    Gender:
    Other
    Gender Pronoun:
    Other
    Sexual Orientation:
    Lesbian
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    It's like if Tumblr and 4chan had a baby.
     
  18. awesomeyodais

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2012
    Messages:
    721
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Soon-to-be-frozen again White North :-(
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Once you're used to certain subreddits (i.e. sub-forums or sub-categories) you can access them directly by going to reddit.com/r/thesubredditname

    There's a search box at the top right (if viewing in web browser), once you're in a subreddit you can search only within the subreddit or across all of reddit by clicking the checkbox

    Posts "rise to the top" by a system of up and downvoting - basically if you want you can thumbs-up or thumbs-down a post and the ones with the most votes show up first

    Scroll down to the bottom of the home page and there are links for help, reddiquette (etiquette for reddit), etc..., tons of info there

    There are 3rd party websites such as Subreddit Finder to find subreddits that relate to specific topics
     
  19. DougTheBicycle

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2015
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Madison, WI
    Gender:
    Female (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Other
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Honestly, the best way to get to know reddit is to just browse around for a while. It confused the hell out of me for a long time, until I forced myself to just sit down and figure it out. Once you do, it makes complete sense.

    For finding subreddits, the best way I've found is to just type in the url. There's one for almost everything you can think of.

    The formula for a subreddit is:

    www. reddit .com/r/[interest]

    Remove the spaces and brackets and replace interest with whatever you like. Say you're into DIY stuff. You would type in:

    www. reddit .com/r/ diy

    and you'll be zapped to the sub. If you're interested in reading the comments attached to a picture or link to an external site, below the post there's a little thing that says 'comments.' Just buckle up, and click on that.

    Really, once you create an account, find a subreddit or two you really like and just start browsing, it all becomes super easy.


    Until you start posting and have to learn their BB code.