Reddit Guide for Newbies
In 2005, two recent college graduates launched a website with a simple idea: They will allow the online community to decide what is worth and not, by allowing them to post their own links and information. They then allowed site users to vote on those posts, with the idea that the best ones would go to the top.
Twelve years later, Reddit still adheres to the same philosophy at its core: About a billion users a month sign up on the “first page of the Internet.” However, if you’ve never dived into the world of up and down votes, subreddits and multireddits (and basic reddicts), the site may seem a little overwhelming. Below are all the basics you need to set up and vote instantly, comment and post.
Preparing to work with subreddits
As with most modern sites, in order to participate in Reddit, you need to register an account using a quick and self-explanatory process (login requests and account settings can be found in the upper right corner of the home page).
Once that is done, you will want to add some subreddits to your account. Subreddits are like individual message boards dedicated to one specific topic, and there are thousands of them on the site, including everything from r / news to r / soul thoughts. All subreddit names start with a lowercase “r” followed by a forward slash and then the name of the subreddit. Each subreddit is moderated and has its own posting rules.
To find the subreddits you are interested in, simply type a subject in the search box at the top right corner of the home page and press Enter. You will be taken to a page with a list of recommended subreddits for this topic. Find the ones you like and hit the green subscribe button and you’re done.
Now when you return to your home page by clicking on the word “reddit” (or little alien guy) in the upper left corner, posts from that subreddit will be listed. Adding additional subreddits will make this page richer by displaying a feed of posts from all the subreddits you subscribe to.
Once you subscribe to subreddits, you’ll see a list of them at the top of the Reddit home page. If you want to check out a specific subreddit, just click its name there and you will be taken to that specific topic’s page. Posts in all subreddits are ordered based on how many votes they got, but Reddit will also give recent posts a prominent spot in their feed to allow them to be seen and upvoted.
Vote
The idea that the community decides what content goes or floats on Reddit still forms the core of the site. If you like a particular post, you can express your appreciation to it by clicking the up arrow or by voting for it. If the post does not quite start your engine, you can voice your dissatisfaction by clicking the down arrow or “voting no”. To the left of each message, you will see a gray number with an arrow above and below it. The number represents the rank of the post – the number of votes minus the number of votes against.
The same system works for comments. You will find up and down arrows next to each comment below the post.
Publication
While a lot of people just enjoy reading Reddit, the real fun begins when you dive in and get involved yourself by posting, voting, and commenting.
There are three main types of posts you can create on Reddit: link post, video post, or image post.
To share a link or embed a video or image, click the Submit New Link button on the right side of the screen. You will be taken to a form where you can enter a link url or upload an image or video file and enter a title for the post. You will also need to enter the subreddit where you want to post the link. Before doing this, it is recommended that you visit the page of this subreddit and read the publishing rules that appear on the right side of the screen. This will ensure that you are upholding the special spirit of the subreddit.
For example, on the r / science subreddit, any link you share should be to research less than six months old. R / lego asks for “no nude images.” And on the r / creepy subreddit, users are told, “No photos of costumes, makeup, or supposedly creepy childish art without moderator approval.”
When all the fields are filled in, click “Submit” and your post will be published.
To submit an original thought, start with “Submit a new text post” on the right side of the home page and fill out the pop-up form.
Reading
Reading posts on Reddit can be a little tricky. This is because most of the content you find consists of links to other sites. Therefore, if you click on the post title, you will be taken directly to that site and not from the main Reddit site. If you want to stay on Reddit to see what other people think about the post, you will need to click the word “comments” under the title of each post. In this area, you also click to share the post on social media, save it to your account, or hide it in your feed.
If the post consists of original content written specifically for Reddit, you’ll see a small page image next to it. This means that if you click on a content title, you will stay on Reddit to read it.
Unsubscribe subreddit
There may come a time when you are no longer interested in a particular topic. You can unsubscribe from any subreddit by clicking the “My Subreddits” text link 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.
Multireddits
Multireddits are one of the little-known but very useful parts of the site. In a way, they are similar to mutual funds – a group of other reddits on a specific topic. (For example, if you are subscribed to several different fitness-oriented subreddits and want to group them all into one place for easy viewing, this is how you would do it.) To create a multireddit, you will see a small gray bar on the far left of the screen. Click on it and a menu will open. Click Create in the Multireddits section and you will be taken to a page where you can add subreddits by searching in the box on the left and clicking the plus sign when you find one you like.
Reddiquette
Reddit has a specific set of rules by which they ask their members to behave. You can find them here . One of the most important aspects of a correct “redict” is a dislike for self-promotion and a ban on placing a large number of links very quickly. So if you join Reddit with the idea that you will only post links to stories that benefit you (for example, only stories from the post you work for), you will quickly be flagged as a spammer and you could have your own website. … privileges revoked. The same is true if you post a lot of posts in a relatively short amount of time.
Other important redaction rules include finding the original source of the story, rather than linking to a blog that has taken it from another blog; search for duplicates of your story before publishing; placement in the most appropriate subreddit; and, as a rule, behave like a decent person, following the dictum: “Remember people.”
Overall, respectful, judicious, and consistent use of the site is the best path to guaranteed Reddit success.
Karma
Participate in various subreddits and show a good reddict and you will eventually start earning good karma on the site. To see how much good karma you have, click on your username in the upper right corner and your karma will be displayed. While karma acts as a kind of “street trust” on Reddit and can affect how others see you, it actually has very little effect on how you use the site – unless you want to create and moderate your own subreddit. If you do this, your account must be over 30 days old and you need a minimum amount of karma known only to the site moderators.
Reddit gold
If you want to become a super user of Reddit, you can also sign up for a Reddit Gold membership. This gives you certain benefits, such as the ability to customize your avatar, disable ads, use different themes to customize the look of the site on your computer, create subreddits that only other gold members can access, and much more. The cost is $ 3.99 per month or $ 29.99 per year. Otherwise, the site is free.
While we’ve covered the basics of getting started with Reddit here, this is really just a beginner’s guide. For example, we haven’t even considered AMA, IAMA, RES, or flair. But that’s another time.