Many of you might of heard of Reddit at some point in the last few years, but I'm willing to bet that not all of you have actually traveled to that wonderful island of the internet yet. So what is Reddit? And what's the best way to use it? First things first, go take a quick look-see; I'll explain what you're looking at later but this is just so you have an idea of what we're dealing with here.
Reddit is commonly called "the front page of the internet." The site operates on a fairly simple idea: people post links to other images, articles, and videos to Reddit while other people "upvote" or "downvote" those posts. What you see when you first get on the site is actually called "the front page," and this is where all the links with the most current upvotes are displayed. However, these links are pretty generic and aren't yet personalized for you. Reddit is actually made up of countless "subreddits" which are indicated with a "/r/" followed by a topic. These subreddits function exactly like the front page does, just with a category to narrow down the content. Some examples would be Funny, WorldNews, and TodayILearned, but these are all from the default subreddits.
There's a subreddit for just about everything, so let's look at some more obscure ones such as/HarryPotter, Parrots, and BudgetFood. Is there a certain TV show you like? There's a subreddit for that. Do you live in Chattanooga? Check out Chattanooga. Do you have an abnormal fascination with buoyant toy fowls? RubberDucks is there for you. And any time you come across a subreddit you find interesting, you can subscribe to it. This means that when you go back to that front page I mentioned earlier, it will now display the top links from your favorite subreddits. Continue adding subreddits you like and unsubscribing from the default subreddits until Reddit becomes your front page of the internet. Congratulations! You've just established your own centralized place on the internet that will forever bring you the newest content that you'll most likely find interesting. But we've only talked about viewing that content, and Reddit's a two way street that makes it entirely interactive as well.
Each link posted to Reddit comes with a comment section that also works like the rest of the site utilizing the up and down voting system for each of the comments. And every comment can be commented on, creating what is called a "thread" of comments. The voting system ensures that the most informing or the funniest thread of comments will always be the first one seen. And every user of (almost) every subreddit is encouraged to not only observe the content posted, but to also engage in the creation or the commentating of said content. This interaction is what turns these groupings of the internet into amazing communities. So don't just lurk around all the time, get involved and be a part of something!
There you have it: a basic introduction to Reddit. I'll eventually make a list of some of the more specific aspects of Reddit that might need some more explaining, but until then, have fun with your own collection of the internet!
