An internet relic’s red-hot IPO
Reddit is a weird one — at once an ancient relic and a cultural hotbed. Founded in 2005 by a pair of UVA grads, the platform hosts message boards dedicated to every possible topic, from dating (r/dating) to conversations with famous, powerful people (r/IAMA). If you’re looking for honest takes, you’ll find them here. These “subreddits” make for some of the internet’s most interesting, active, and frank communities, not least because Reddit’s old-school anonymity allows for unfiltered honesty. No wonder almost 100 million people visit the site every day.
Reddit even manages to move the market, as the infamous GameStop short squeeze demonstrated back in 2021. But the real action arguably got going this past March, when Reddit finally went public and ordinary investors got their first shot at owning shares, which debuted at around $47 each. Since then, the stock has soared about 180%, vastly outperforming the S&P 500. For more on the once and future message-board system — and why it refuses to fade into the background — see below.
By the digits
9: Reddit’s position on the top-10 list of the internet’s most-visited sites, as of September 2024.
717,000: Members of the Nope subreddit, which is “dedicated to things that make you say nope” and will give you a good sense of the eclectic nature of many Reddit communities.
97.2 million: Daily active uniques (as in unique visitors), an almost 50% increase over this time last year
Over 16 billion: Total number of posts and comments on Reddit right now.
$1.4 trillion: The number of ad dollars Reddit’s top brass claims to see in its future, per the company’s IPO filings.
How Reddit shapes the internet as we know it
If you’re not a regular Reddit reader, you may not realize how much it’s shaped both the internet and broader pop culture. The platform introduced many acronyms and terms now in common use online and in in-person conversation, such as “TLDR” (too long, didn’t read), “TIL” (today I learned), and “redpilled” — plus many more words and phrases too off-color to be included here.
Its r/IAmA forum has hosted Q&As with figures as varied as Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Keanu Reeves, and NASA’s Curiosity Rover team. These AMAs provide a rare, direct line of questioning between the public and notable personalities, often producing newsworthy revelations and viral moments.
Politically, Reddit communities like r/politics and r/news have shaped discussions on major issues and elections, influencing public opinion through both grassroots activism and organized information-sharing. The platform has occasionally hosted harmful content, too, such as r/The_Donald, which was banned in 2020 after violating policies on hate speech. The community was linked to planning aspects of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Despite newer platforms, Reddit remains a vastly influential yet old-school hub. Its affinity- and fandom-driven subreddits offer a modern antidote to “Bowling Alone”-type arguments, turning virtual spaces into engaged tribes — for better and for worse. Just remember you read it here, not on Reddit.
Quotable
“Facebook makes me hate the people I know, and Reddit makes me love the people I don’t.” — Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder
Pop quiz
Which Reddit community is dedicated to sharing intimate confessions, sometimes with shocking honesty?
A. r/trueconfessions
B. r/relationships
C. r/heart2heart
D: r/personaladvice
Check out the answer at the bottom of this email.
Brief history
2005: UVA grads Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian found Reddit, offering a simple, user-driven platform that would become a pioneer in social news aggregation.
2006: Condé Nast acquires Reddit for a reported $10-$20 million, giving it stability and resources that helped it grow from a niche community into a mainstream internet staple.
2008: Reddit launches subreddits, allowing users to create and join topic-specific communities, transforming Reddit into a vast network of niche interest groups.
2012: Reddit helps spearhead internet-wide protests against the SOPA and PIPA internet bills, marking its emergence as a platform for digital activism.
2019: Reddit hits 400 million monthly active users, solidifying its status as one of the largest and most influential platforms globally.
2024: Reddit IPOs, making its own Wall Street bet.
Fun fact!
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian is married to tennis champion Serena Williams, and their attendance at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle in 2017 was, naturally, posted to Reddit.
Watch this
The Reddit cofounders describe starting the site in this YouTube video.
Take me down this 🐰 hole!
If you’ve got 15 minutes to waste, r/mildlyinteresting offers “mildly interesting stuff. Stuff that interests you. Mildly.”
Poll
What is the most popular AMA of all time on Reddit?
- Bill Gates
- Barack Obama
- Elon Musk
- Snoop Dogg
💬 Let’s talk
🐤 X this!
🤔 What did you think of today’s email?
💡 What should we obsess over next?
Today’s email was put together by Catherine Baab-Muguira, whose 2021 AMA drew one million people — so she knows the power of Reddit firsthand.
The correct answer to the pop quiz is B. r/relationships is a subreddit where users openly share their personal relationship struggles, from awkward dating dilemmas to complex family issues. Known for its blunt, often brutally honest advice, it’s a space where Reddit users don’t shy away from the difficult and sometimes uncomfortable aspects of relationships, offering support or tough love in equal measure.