The Beginner's Guide to Reddit (2024)

By Michael Franco

In 2005, two recent college graduates launched a website with a simple idea: they would let the online community decide what was newsworthy and what wasn’t by letting them post their own links and information. They’d then allow the site’s users to vote on those posts, with the idea that the very best would rise to the top.

Twelve years on, Reddit still has the same philosophy at its core, with about one billion users per month checking in to “the front page of the Internet.” Yet if you’ve never plunged into the world of upvotes and downvotes, subreddits and multireddits (and basic “reddiquette”) the site can seem a little overwhelming. Below, we’ve got all the basics you need to get set up and voting, commenting, posting in no time.

Getting Set Up With Subreddits

As with most sites these days, to participate in Reddit, you’ll need to sign up for an account through a quick and self-explanatory process (login and account setup prompts can be found at the top right of the homepage).

Once that’s done, you’ll want to add some subreddits to your account. Subreddits are like individual message boards devoted to one particular topic and there are thousands of them on the site including everything from r/news to r/showerthoughts. All subreddit names begin with a lowercase “r” followed by a slash, then the name of the subreddit. Each subreddit is hosted by a moderator and comes with its own rules regarding posts.

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To find the subreddits that interest you, simply enter a topic in the search box in the upper-right-hand corner of the homepage and hit enter. You’ll be taken to a page with a list of suggested subreddits on that topic. Find the ones you like and click on the green “subscribe” button and you’re done.

Now, when you return to your homepage by clicking on the word “reddit” (or the little alien guy) in the top left, posts from that subreddit will be listed. Adding more subreddits will make this page richer, as it will show a feed of posts from all the subreddits to which you’re subscribed.

As you subscribe to subreddits, you’ll see them listed across the top of your Reddit homepage. If you want to check in on a particular subreddit, simply click on its name up there and you’ll go to that specific topic’s page. Posts on all subreddits are arranged according to how many upvotes they’ve received, but Reddit will also give recent posts a prominent place in the feed in order to give them a chance to be seen and voted on.

Voting

The idea that the community decides the content that sinks or swims on Reddit still forms the basis of the site. If you like a particular post, you can show your appreciation for it by clicking the up arrow, or “upvoting” it. If the post doesn’t quite get your motor running, you can express your displeasure by clicking the down arrow, or “downvoting.” To the left of every post you’ll see a gray number with an arrow above and below it. The number represents the post’s rank—the number of upvotes minus the number of downvotes.

The same system works for comments as well. You’ll find the up and down arrows next to every comment beneath a post.

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Posting

While many people simply enjoy reading Reddit, the real fun begins as you dive in and start participating yourself by posting, voting and commenting.

There are three main types of posts you can create on Reddit: sharing a link, posting a video, or posting an image.

To share a link or embed a video or image, click the “Submit a new link” button on the right side of the screen. You’ll be taken to a form where you can enter the URL of the link or upload your image or video file and input a title for the post. You will also need to enter the subreddit where you’d like your link to appear. Before doing so, it’s a good idea to head to that subreddit’s page and read the posting guidelines that appear on the right side of the screen. This will ensure you are abiding by the particular ethos of the subreddit.

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For example, on the r/science subreddit, any link you share must be to research that is less than six months old. The r/lego site requests “no pictures of naked human beings.” And on the r/creepy subreddit users are told: “No pictures of costumes, makeup, or supposedly creepy children’s art without approval from the moderation team.”

When all the fields are filled out, click “submit” and your post will go live.

To submit an original thought of your own, start with the “Submit a new text post” on the right side of the home page and fill out the form that will pop up.

Reading

Reading posts in Reddit can get a little tricky. That’s because the majority of the content you’ll find consists of links to other sites. So if you click on the name of a post, you’ll get taken directly to that site and off of the Reddit main site. If you want to stay on Reddit to see what other people think about the post, then you’ll need to click on the word “comments” below each post title. This area is also where you click to share the post to social media, save it to your account or hide it from your feed.

If the post consists of original content, written specifically for Reddit, you’ll see a small graphic of a page next to it. This means that if you click on the content title, you’ll stay on the Reddit site to read it.

Unsubscribing From a Subreddit

There may come a time when you’re no longer interested in a particular topic. You can unsubscribe from any subreddit by clicking the text link “My Subreddits” in the upper-left corner of the screen. Scroll down to “Edit Subscriptions” and click the red unsubscribe button next to any subreddits you no longer want to see in your feed.

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Multireddits

Multireddits are one of the lesser known, but very useful, parts of the site. In a way, they’re like mutual funds – a grouping of other reddits on a particular topic. (For instance, if you follow several different fitness-oriented subreddits, and want to group them all into one place for easy browsing, this is how you would do it.) To create a multireddit, you’ll see a small grey bar on the very left edge of the screen. Click it, and a menu will open. Click “create” under “Multireddits” and you’ll be taken to a page when you can add subreddits by searching for them in the box on the left and clicking on the plus symbol when you find one you like.

Reddiquette

Reddit has a particular set of guidelines by which they ask their participants to behave. You can find them here. One of the more important aspects of proper “reddiquette” is a dislike of self-promotion and a ban on submitting a lot of links very quickly. So if you join Reddit with the idea that you will only post links to stories that benefit you in some way (for instance, only stories from a publication you work for), you will quickly be flagged as a spammer and you might have your site privileges revoked. The same thing holds true if you put up a lot of posts in a relatively short amount of time.

Other important reddiquette rules include looking for the original source of a story rather than linking to a blog that has picked it up from another blog; looking for duplicates of your story before posting it; posting to the most appropriate subreddit possible; and generally acting like a decent person by following the maxim of: “Remember the human.”

In general, using the site in a respectful, intelligent and consistent way is the best path to assured Reddit success.

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Karma

Participate in different subreddits, and demonstrate good reddiquette and you’ll eventually start earning good karma on the site. To see how much good karma you have, click on your username in the upper right and your karma will be displayed. While karma acts as a kind of “street cred” on Reddit and can affect how others view you, it actually has very little impact on how you use the site—unless you want to create and moderate your own subreddit. If you do, your account will need to be at least 30 days old and you’ll need to have a minimal amount of karma in a quantity known only to the site moderators.

Reddit Gold

If you want to become a super Reddit user, you can also decide to sign up for a Reddit Gold membership. This affords you certain benefits such as the ability to customize your avatar, turn off ads, use different themes to customize the way the site appears on your computer, create subreddits that can only be accessed by other gold members, and more. The cost is $3.99 per month or $29.99 per year. Otherwise, the site is free.

While we’ve covered the main highlights of getting started with Reddit here, this is truly just a beginner’s guide. For example, we haven’t even covered AMAs, IamAs, RES or flair. But those are for another time.

The Beginner's Guide to Reddit (2024)

FAQs

Is the beginner's guide worth playing Reddit? ›

I think the "Beginner's Guide" is precisely that phase where, for the first time, you make a hit. It's important to know that you don't owe anyone anything. And that you don't have to reply to everyone and force yourself to come up with lots of other things, each more creative than the last.

Is the beginner's guide worth it? ›

The Beginner's Guide is an absorbing journey into the thoughts and processes involved during the creation of a video game. It succeeds in helping you understand and sympathize with game developers as artists and people.

How to use Reddit as a beginner? ›

Getting started with Reddit: A beginner's guide
  1. Step 1: Create a new account. To create your own Reddit account, go to Reddit.com, click “Log in” or “Sign Up” in the top right corner and follow the prompts. ...
  2. Step 2: Find relevant subreddits. ...
  3. Step 4: Understand the subreddit rules. ...
  4. Step 5: Engage, don't advertise.
Jul 16, 2024

Is the story of the beginner's guide true? ›

The controversy led some to point out that the interpretation of the game was very personal, differing between each player; Wreden himself in light of the controversy refused to affirm or deny any interpretation of the game, until confirming the game's ultimately fictional nature in an in-depth interview with the ...

Does the beginners guide have jumpscares? ›

Nothing besides sudden transitions but there is absolutely nothing programmed with the intent to scare the player, just to make them feel a certain way.

Is The Beginner's Guide horror? ›

Sometimes, the ambience can cause you to feel a little stressed but thats unintentional i think. It's no horror game that's for sure.

What age uses Reddit the most? ›

Reddit Demographics Age
  • A majority of Reddit users fall within the 18-29 age range, making up 64% of its user base. This age group is notably tech-savvy and active on social media.
  • The platform also engages users aged 30 to 49 years, with 22% of internet users in this age group using Reddit.
May 3, 2024

What does "r" mean in Reddit? ›

u/ is a username. r/ is for a subreddit.

What is Reddit mostly used for? ›

Reddit (/ˈrɛdɪt/) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and forum social network. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images, and videos, which are then voted up or down ("upvoted" or "downvoted") by other members.

Is Coda a real person in the Beginner's Guide? ›

Thankfully, the story of The Beginner's Guide is fictional. There is no Coda, and the character of “narrator Wreden” isn't accurate to who he is in real life. There is no great betrayal and no falling out with a friend, but there is no doubt that aspects of the game are based on true events.

Who is R at the end of the beginner's guide? ›

At the end of the game there is a message saying "For R". This refers to a commentator of The Stanley Parable named Raphael who claimed that the game wasn't emotional enough.

What is the book A Beginner's Guide to the End about? ›

1 Sentence Summary: A Beginner's Guide To The End is your guide to using the principles of stillness, cleaning, and grief to prepare for your own or a loved one's death. Favorite quote from the author: "There is nothing wrong with you for dying, but you'd never know it from the way we talk about death."

How many chapters are in the Beginner's Guide? ›

The Beginner's Guide consists in exploring and interacting with eighteen partially developed 3D environments (called "games", "chapters", or "levels") from a first-person perspective. Those occasionally feature simple puzzles and dialog trees.

What is the best video game series reddit? ›

  • Persona - Because of its unique art style, storytelling and turn based combat.
  • God of War - Best in its genre.
  • RDR - RDR2 cemented it in my all time best games.
  • Zelda - Loved each of the 4 Zelda games O have completed till date. ...
  • Last of Us and Uncharted (Tie) - Both are amazing in every aspect.
Mar 20, 2023

Who is Coda the beginners guide? ›

Coda is Davey's ex-partner

There is a lot of context describing the lack of understanding of Coda's actions that could be read as Davey trying to find closure for the breakup thru the games they still have (instead of describing Coda as simply stopped making games).

Is it hard to develop a game reddit? ›

Game development is a profession of many hats, and if you are a solo indie, like me, it is extremely difficult. You not only have to know to program, but also know about game design and how to take the correct decisions.

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