Life, one story at a time
Posts tagged reddit
What Is Reddit, Who Is A Reddit User And How Do I Get On The Front Page?
Aug 3rd
Links on the front page of reddit are likely to generate thousands, if not tens of thousands, of hits. If that link is to your external website, you are going to benefit from increased exposure to your content and, if you are selling a product that fits the demographic, a noticeable increase in sales. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well…
This article will take you through:
- What is reddit?
- Who is a reddit user?
- Choosing an appropriate link.
- Choosing an appropriate title and subreddit.
- Hitting the front page and hitting it consistently.
- Reddit from a business perspective.
What is reddit and how does it work?
Reddit is a social news site where registered users can post links to outside content (images, videos, articles etc.) or internal, self-created content. This link can be up-voted by other users – which makes the post rise in rank to a maximum of number 1 on the front page (“what’s hot”) – or down-voted, causing it to sink to the place where Stallone movies go to die. It is also possible to comment on the link and this is where the denizens of reddit come out to play.
Getting to know the community: a typical reddit user
Likes: Atheism, Jon Stewart, Pokémon, cats, creativity, personal stories, breasts, philanthropy, Ron Paul.
Dislikes: Religion, FOX News, religion, Sarah Palin, blatant self promotion.
Traits: GSOH, smart, savvy, forgetful, geeky, kind, American, stubborn. Will pick you up when you’re feeling down or quickly make you regret posting that link to a TED video. Great at one-liners; not so great at recognising regurgitated content.
Choosing your link
So you have a rough idea of the community and how the site operates. Though the beauty of reddit is that you can post anything, the truth is that just “anything” won’t cut it. If you want to hit the front page, you must be brutal with your link and the content that it leads to. Posting duplicate content is unlikely to net you a front page position and whiny or negative posts usually get relegated to the Bog of Eternal Stench. A search on searchreddit.com will garner better results than those from the main site’s search engine.
Your best bet is fresh, topical content. Breaking news stories are a goldmine and any associated with the above likes/dislikes are a good start. Funny pictures or images that have not been posted previously are good and personal stories even better. If you want to sink a little lower, NSFW content can work, not surprising considering the predominantly male userbase.
For example, this organ donation post of mine was topical and quite specific, which may explain its success. Other times you can submit multiple news stories and have only one of them strike a chord, albeit a negative one in this instance.
Getting a link to your own website on the front page will be trickier but not impossible (more on this later on). Again, ensure the content is relevant to reddit and its community. A site trying to flog dustbins and Port-a-Loos is plunging straight down to SludgeVille but an insightful post from a programming blog could find success in the programming subreddit and, ultimately, on the front page.
Choosing your title and subreddit
Now you’re sure of the link/text, you are going to need to bring in the punters via a title. This is more important than anything else, as this is all a reddit user sees before deciding whether they want to click on a link or not. Don’t try and deceive people but do make it catchy and pertinent. If you are linking to something funny, try not to put the punchline in the title. Always tailor the wording to the type of post i.e. a hard-hitting story about a Moldovan orphanage may benefit from a plain title with the facts laid bare.
Also, make sure to post in a relevant subreddit. A subreddit is a sub-community within the main website focused on a specific topic i.e. politics, which focuses on US politics mainly. A viable strategy for hitting the front page is to post within a subreddit and have that link up-voted by the reddit users there. The effect of this is two-fold: 1) the link will rise in popularity within the subreddit, rising perhaps to the top; 2) the link will rise on the “what’s hot” listing which makes up the default content on the front page. Here lies the cycle of gathering steam, maintaining it and moving upwards to a better ranking.
Hitting the front page and hitting it consistently
To hit the front page you need a healthy amount of up-votes to down-votes (60/40, let’s say) and these votes need to be within a certain amount of time. It is difficult to explicitly state how many up-votes and in what amount of time because of factors such as the karma system.
Simply, there are two types of karma: comment and link. Comment karma goes up or down depending on up-votes and down-votes on your comments; link karma goes up and down depending on your links. There are, however, certain additional facets. For example, self-posts will not net you any karma and it is believed that an up-vote from a redditor with a huge stash of karma is worth more.
Although the karma system isn’t 100% transparent, a link posted by a redditor with a high amount of karma will probably start with an advantage. So amassing a healthy amount of karma is a worthy pursuit. It might help you hit the front page consistently.
Just be advised that it’s okay if your submission goes nowhere. It happens to all of us. I find that those who want to use reddit for self-promotion without giving anything back tend to be disappointed. Instead, add your link in hopes of starting a conversation; try to lend your expertise to discussions; and give back at least as much as you take.
Sideline: Reddit from a business perspective
- Trying to get traffic to earn revenue from your ads? Reddit will give you a low proportion of adclicks, especially if your advertising is not targeted to the typical reddit user. Remember also that many use ad blocking so they won’t even see your ad.
- Hard to leverage traffic.
- If you become a liked and respected member who gives back, people may well be interested in you and thus more likely to visit your site and buy your product.
Organ Donation: Your Views
Jul 28th
This is my original view that generated enough interest to hit the front page of Reddit, landing in the number two slot:
“I think organ donation should be ‘opt out’ rather than ‘opt in’. What about you?”
Here are just a few of the 2127 comments and stories:
“Well when my dad died of a stroke (he was in intensive care) my mum approached me in the hospital and asked about organ donation. I perked up and thought “AWESOME”! the brain is an organ so he can get a new brain, but then i thought, “oh, but it won’t be really him” then the reality hit me. (It’s funny how hope can distort logic). He was dead and they wanted to harvest his organs. He was always against it but Mum asked my brother and I and we agreed to it. He always said just put be in the bin when I’m dead. So we donated his organs. 12 people benefitted. It keeps my mother sane 20 years later, not to mention the lives it saved. She gets letters from the organisation that runs the donation program yearly updating her on the health of the recipients. This helps her a lot and is one thing that seems to get overlooked when discussing organ donation. Thank you for reading.” -jimmyspark
“You must be joking. I can think of no greater violation of an individual by a collective than this. If you want to sure, but you have no right zero zip nothing to anyone else body just because it is good for the collective. I’m sorry if that is inconvenient… I support anyone who wants to help others but opt-out implies you have an authority you don’t.” -drwho9437
“So, who else just signed up to be an organ donor because of this thread? I did! Meant to for a long time but I never got around to it… done!” -citricsquid
“Not only that, but getting donated organs should depend on whether you’d donate yours. Not on the donor registry? Not on the waiting list. (Except in cases of a medical exclusion.)” -robotnixon
“I guess this could potentially open me up to trolls, but I’m going to believe in the goodness of people. Organ donation is an issue close to my heart.
On May 30th, 2010, I am “going red” (dyeing my hair a lovely shade of vermilion!) and marching in the Great Strides Walk to fund raise for medical research on Cystic Fibrosis.
I am doing this in honour of Eva Markvoort, who passed away a couple days short of her 26th birthday, on March 27th, 2010. Eva was an older sister figure to me, and was the catalyst for some of the best life decisions I ever made. She was a great advocate for organ donation- after her documentary 65_RedRoses came out, organ donation in Canada TRIPLED.
~~~
To Eva,
Thank for for the themed scavenger hunts, the life lessons, the face paints, and the crazy hair. Thank you for the memorable trips to Victoria and the introduction to UVic. Thank you for the movie nights — roast chicken & Gummi Bears will forever make me smile and think of you. Thank you for demonstrating how to be an inspiration and for showing me how to make a difference for what you believe in. Thank you unwaveringly positive affect on my life.
Most of all, thank you for showing me by example how to be an amazing sister to mine, and I promise that I will always be there for yours.
Breathe easy.” – peacebone
If anyone has an issue with their views being posted here, please contact me and I will of course remove them.
Do You Believe In Life After Death?
Apr 8th
This is a complicated question and one that inspires a great deal of debate. My post over at Reddit has drawn a lot of comments and the votes are split (not surprising considering the topic).
I’m inclined to believe that there is a life after death. Even the Black Eyed Peas said that energy never dies.
I don’t mind if I don’t go to Heaven (and would be grateful if I didn’t end up in Hell), or if I’m not reincarnated (who wants to be a cow and eat grass all day?), but I’d like to think that I could continue to go through experiences and continue to grow, regardless of form.
Then again, if this life is all we have, we better make the most of it.
