Reddit’s Year in Review: 2018 →
Community highlights, best-of’s and the top trends for the year ahead
By: Christine Cassis & Justin Bassett
This time of year, there are recaps and best-ofs a-plenty, including our very own Reddit Year in Review, which kicks off the annual, community-led Best of Reddit campaign. We’ll dive in to everything from top threads to what’s up with Thanos, as well as a look at what’s on-deck for the year ahead!
Before we dig into what happened in 2018, here’s a quick summary of Reddit by-the-numbers, as of November 2018:
153 million posts to Reddit
1.2 billion comments (and counting!)
27 billion votes
Reddit is home to thousands of communities, endless conversation and authentic human connection. Whether you’re into breaking news, sports, TV fan theories or a never-ending stream of the Internet’s cutest animals, there’s a community on Reddit for you.
With more than 330 million monthly active users, organized by nearly 150K active communities, and 14 billion views per month, Reddit is a growing family of millions of diverse people sharing the things they care about most.
And with thousands of new communities joining the platform in 2018 alone, getting started can be overwhelming. We’re not here to spell out a 101 guide to Reddit or share tips & tricks (though, we’ve got those too!). Instead, we’re aiming to share top and trending content from across the site in 2018. So, without further ado…
Across the site, we saw a surge in activity in 2018, growing 22% YoY in engagement (posts + comments + votes) and 30% YoY in views. But perhaps more important than time-spent and user-growth on site is what actually happened on Reddit in 2018?
To kick things off, we dug into most upvoted posts of the year. Of note, 2 of Reddit’s most-viewed videos also appear in our top 5, alongside other videos and image-heavy posts:
Most upvoted posts of 2018:
313K upvotes; “This is what happens when one company owns dozens of local news stations” via r/videos
285K upvotes; “Heat index was 110 degrees so we offered him a cold drink. He went for a full body soak instead” via r/aww (Note: 2nd most viewed video on Reddit in 2018)
277K upvotes; “VOTE UPWARDS IF YOU'RE STILL UNBANNED TO FLEX ON SNAPPENED USERS” via r/thanosdidnothingwrong
246K upvotes; “Local Mexican restaurant used to be a Chinese restaurant. Instead of painting over a mural, they just put sombreros on the pandas.” via r/mildlyinteresting
245K upvotes; “Reddit, Thanos has a message for you…” via r/thanosdidnothingwrong (Note: Most viewed video on Reddit in 2018)
And yet, when we dug into the most-upvoted comments on Reddit in 2018, we saw a shift in engagement. Enter r/AskReddit, AKA “the place to ask and answer thought-provoking questions.” It’s this community where we see commenters being more engaged and active vs. posting, as redditors entertain conversations on everything from biggest regrets to parenting surprises and general advice.
Top upvoted comments by post in 2018:
84K upvotes; “Your ‘guy friend’ would %&*^ you if given the chance. That's why your SO hates him.” via r/AskReddit
81K upvotes; “Sex it is.” via r/AskReddit
79K upvotes; “I've posted this story before but this seems like another appropriate thread for this story. One night during high school, my friend and I got invited to a party. I didn't drive back then so my friend picked me up…” via r/AskReddit
74K upvotes; “When I was in kindergarten if you did stuff well and didn't get In trouble you earned points that you could buy a reward with. I saved mine up for a long time to get a mini gumball machine, but when I finally went to the get it I made a split second decision…” via r/AskReddit
74K upvotes; “President.” via r/AskReddit
Reddit encountered a lot of “firsts” in 2018, including the launch of our redesign––the first overhaul of the site in more than a decade, new mod tools (like ModMail search) and night mode. As with any new chapter, our community evolved and changed as well. Here’s a look at what’s new on Reddit for 2018, starting with the largest new communiti
Largest new communities by subscribers in 2018:
ThanosDidNothingWrong with 568K subscribers
InTheSoulStone with 257K subscribers
AbsoluteUnits with 229K subscribers
KeanuBeingAwesome with 164K subscribers
PovertyFinance with 131K subscribers
We also saw redditors start to build a community, or following, of their own. From notorious Twitch streamer u/thesquatingdog and u/NASA to u/GovSchwarzenegger and u/RealWWE, we’re seeing a shift for some users to leverage the Reddit platform and its highly-engaged communities for more than interest-based conversation, but also brand-building around their areas of expertise.
Home to thousands of communities and endless conversation online, Reddit is the go-to place for hundreds of million of people to debate and discuss everything from relationship advice and product reviews to favorite movies and sportings events, there’s literally something for everyone.
Most comments per post in 2018:
84K comments; “[#5][XBOX] Anything-Goes Trading Thread” via r/RocketLeagueExchange
84K comments; “REMINDER- COMMENT OR POST ON THE SUB SO THE BOT KNOWS YOU ARE ACTIVE” via r/thanosdidnothingwrong
77K comments; “Official Discussion - Avengers: Infinity War [SPOILERS]” via r/movies
76K comments; “Game Thread: Jacksonville Jaguars (12-6) at New England Patriots (14-3)” via r/NFL
66K comments; “BAN MEGA THREAD” via r/thanosdidnothingwrong
When looking at the most comments per post in 2018, fan-favorite “The Snappening” (i.e. r/ThanosDidNothingWrong) made an appearance 4 times in the top 10. This should come as no surprise if you’re in-the-loop on the community-led activation. But for those who are r/OutOfTheLoop, here’s a quick TL;DR:
Inspired by Avengers: Infinity War, a group of redditors banded together to see if they could ban half of r/ThanosDidNothingWrong. [WARNING: Spoilers ahead.] This wasn’t too strange of an idea, given that the good guy in the movie to which this subreddit was dedicated to was similarly trying to save the universe by freeing up half its precious resources. As the subreddit began to approach 100K subscribers, more and more users began to rally behind the idea, eventually convincing the mods and site admins to get on board.
Soon, media started to catch on and the subreddit was consistently hitting the top spot on r/all causing the community to grow to more than 500K subscribers. Naturally, we saw an epic number of memes begin to surface. The draw became so great even the Russo brothers (directors of the film) and Josh Brolin (Thanos) joined in the fun. A few days later, the community peaked at 700K subscribers right as the ban began. For the next couple of days, a series of other events unfolded, including the rise of new communities, trophies and more. Check out the full recap here.
In addition to super meta on-site activations, breaking news and game launches that drive tons of conversation, Reddit saw tons of engagement around the ever-notorious “AMA.” Perhaps one of the Internet’s most prolific phrases, AMA stands for “Ask Me Anything.” Did you know it started on Reddit? Now, the term is used more broadly to describe an interview occuring between the host user and all the others who participate and ask questions.
So far in 2018, we’ve hosted upwards of 1.8K AMAs on Reddit, with a range of hosts and topics, from celebrities and politicians to firefighters, the FCC Commissioner and the astronauts at NASA. Below is a quick at-a-glance of top AMAs on Reddit in 2018 by upvotes and comments. You’ll notice, no matter which way we slice the data, Bill Gates reigns supreme...
Top AMAs by upvotes in 2018:
124K upvotes; “I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ask Me Anything.” via r/IAmA
84K upvotes; “I'm the candidate who was thrown out of the West Virginia House for reading off fossil fuel donors! But there’s more to me than that. I'm Lissa Lucas, AMA! [xpost /r/Political_Revolution]” via r/IAmA
79K upvotes; “Hi, I'm Stacey Abrams. If I win my "toss up" Georgia gubernatorial race, I'll be the first Black woman governor in America. Ask Me Anything!” via r/politics
72K upvotes; “IamA FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel who voted for Net Neutrality, AMA!” via r/IAmA
Most comments by AMA post in 2018:
22K comments; “I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Ask Me Anything.” via r/IAmA
19K comments; “I am Dr. Jordan B Peterson, U of T Professor, clinical psychologist, author of 12 Rules for Life and Maps of Meaning, and creator of The Self Authoring Suite. Ask me anything!” via r/IAmA
12.5K comments; “I'm a Catholic Bishop and Philosopher Who Loves Dialoguing with Atheists and Agnostics Online. AMA!” via r/IAmA
10.5K comments; “I am receiving Universal Basic Income payments as part of a pilot project being tested in Ontario, Canada. AMA!” via r/IAmA
10K comments; “I'm Sid Fischer, a student who was in the third room shot into by a murderer in the recent school shooting, AMA” via r/IAmA
Unlike other platforms, redditors engage in long-form, authentic conversation. Much like other platforms, those conversations can be controversial. That said, when we looked into this type of content, what we found wasn’t necessarily negative and sometimes just plain fun. For example, take a look at the top 2 most downvoted posts of 2018:
48.5K downvotes; “You can only downvote this picture of squidward if you Upvote the picture of spongebob that I will link in the comments.” via r/BikiniBottomTwitter
31K downvotes; “A picture of Thanos should be the most downvoted post of all time.” via r/thanosdidnothingwrong
And when we take a look at what we consider to be the most controversial posts––i.e. posts by vote ratio*, but closest to zero ratio––to better understand the split vote ratio between up/down we see a mix of culturally-relevant AMAs, interesting images and ongoing discussions around gaming and more. *Minimum 5K votes
We also dug into the most downvoted comments of 2018, only to find that, r/ThanosDidNothingWrong, of course, dominated the top 10 with 5 total posts. A few other notable ones included a case of mistaken identity with r/Roll20 and one user suggesting that a redditor test out an abandoned electric chair in r/WTF.
About a year after launching native video hosting, it’s now the dominant way people are viewing and posting video content. In the 2 months since we released our “Video on Reddit” report, we’ve seen a 40% jump in video consumption, from 1 billion native video views per month to 1.4 billion. We also reported Reddit was serving more than 400K hours of natively hosted video every day and more than 13 million hours of video monthly, a growth of 38% since the beginning of 2018.
Not only is native video proving to be a growing medium for Content Creators on Reddit, the content also aligns with our audience and communities––which is crucial to the success of Reddit-hosted video and the authentic conversations surrounding them. With engagement on Reddit being self-selected and community-based, video performance in each community varies by cultures and communication styles. For example, with 50% of our audience under the age of 34, “snack sized” videos––AKA short, quick-consumption clips––are a trademark of their content consumption patterns.
Video and GIFs represent a major proportion of the content shared on Reddit. With the launch of our native video hosting and player in August 2017, we’ve seen rich content and conversation continue to coexist within communities in a way that is authentic to Reddit and its thousands of communities.
It’s no surprise that redditors are news-obsessed. In fact, a recent Pew Research Center study shows that users on Reddit are more news-focused (73%) than any other platform. In 2018, Reddit partnered with Local Media Consortium in an effort to empower LMC’s 75 local media company members – which represent more than 1,700 newspaper, broadcast, and digital titles –– to reach new audiences and engage more deeply with their existing communities. Below are a few highlights from news and media-related engagements on Reddit in 2018:
Live Threads provide real-time information about a live event that multiple contributors can update with new details. Anyone viewing can see live updates immediately without having to refresh the page or feed––and unlike comment-based threads, there is no limit to the number of updates during the course of a live thread event. Redditors have come to rely on this feature to track breaking news, live events and natural disasters.
In 2018, one live thread in particular stands out for its engagement: r/LiveCounting's live thread as the community approached 10 million. At peak, we saw nearly 146K concurrent viewers.
Megathreads are a great way to streamline a conversation, rallying redditors around a single thread versus multiple posts with similar discussions. Typically, we see Mods create and “sticky” megathreads at the top of their respective communities for relevant events, launches, holidays and important breaking news.
This year’s top megathread was around suicide prevention following the news of Anthony Bourdain’s passing. Here’s a look at some of 2018’s top megathread-worthy moments...
Top Megathreads by upvotes in 2018:
128K upvotes; “Suicide Prevention Megathread” via r/AskReddit
74K upvotes; “Stephen Hawking megathread” via r/AskScience
71K upvotes; “BAN MEGA THREAD” via r/ThanosDidNothingWrong
66K upvotes; “Megathread: Office of Special Counsel Indicts 13 Russian Nationals and 3 Russian Entities for Interference in 2016 Election” via r/Politics
65K upvotes; “Megathread: F.B.I. Raids Office of Trump’s Longtime Lawyer Michael Cohen” via r/Politics
Engagement with media and publishers: Redditors also find a lot of value in interacting directly with media and journalists on-site. In 2018, we saw a range of great content stemming from publishers such as NatGeo (World Photo Day and an AMA on elephants) to The Washington Post’s powerful AMA on the death of Jamal Khashoggi hosted by two colleagues who worked with the journalist.
Publishers also found creative ways to engage with redditors in 2018, including a variety of engagement prompts that got users talking with them directly and sharing feedback to help build storylines. A few key media engagement moments throughout the last year include USA Today’s r/politics prompt around Election Day and Bleacher Report’s hilarious, organic comments in response to posts across the platform. In fact, some redditors were so delighted by these transparent efforts to connect with readers that they sent Dallas Morning News 41 pizzas as a random act of kindness.
After looking at trends, both on- and off-Reddit in 2018, we wanted to see what predictions we could make for the year ahead. From trending topics and conversations on-site, to the latest and greatest in specific interest categories, here’s a quick look at what we found...
Entertainment is huge on Reddit, with redditors being among the most passionate television fans on the Internet. Each year, redditors have made r/GameofThrones a popular destination to discuss current episodes of the show. With no new season airing in 2018, we saw the community lose its title as the No. 1 most popular television subreddit for the first time since 2011. However, with the final season airing next year, we predict engagement to outpace that of years' past in 2019.
In the upcoming 2019 season, it’s likely that Game of Thrones will eclipse 2M monthly comments on Reddit, but in its place we saw fans of entertainment discussing the following top shows across the site:
8.8M uniques on r/RuPaulsDragRace
7.7M uniques on r/GameofThrones
5.9M uniques on r/RickAndMorty
5.7M uniques to r/Westworld
4.3M uniques on r/StrangerThings
4.2M uniques on r/SouthPark
4.0M uniques to r/BoJackHorseman
2.3M uniques on r/TheBachelor
Skin care is a growing topic of interest for redditors. In fact, in 2018, we saw an acceleration of skincare trend on-site, eclipsing makeup and beauty content for the first time. By April, redditors were posting an average of 20k comments per month relating to skincare, an 81% lift of the 2017 average.
A few other trends we saw across top verticals:
In fashion, we saw a rise in “Bootcut Bandits,” a term to describe people wearing relaxed straight pants over a fresh pair of high tops or sneaker. Over the year, posts referencing the term tripled, peaking in August 2018
In gaming, we saw a rise in key games, such as blockbuster hit “RDR2” for Red Dead Redemption 2, “ENCE” for a relatively new Counter Strike eSports team and even a meme from Twitch that became an integral part of gaming lingo and Reddit’s own Snappening: ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ .
In sports, we saw a rise in… copypasta––a block of text copied and pasted so many times across the internet that it's become a meme––with redditors in sports subreddits posting copypasta comments 30% more frequently than 2017. Users in r/NBA and r/NFL showed a particular affinity for the format, with each subreddit more than doubling their copypasta usage over the year.
Best of Reddit 2018
As communities across Reddit close our 2018 with their very own “Best of Reddit” rankings, we encourage you to check out r/bestof2018 to keep tabs on how the community has voted. Best of will take place over the course of December and January in various communities, where redditors can nominate and vote on their top posts, threads, users and more. We’ll be sure to update you on Best of Reddit 2018 outcomes in 2019. Until then, from all of us at Reddit HQ, Happy Snoo Year!