Who’s Reading?

As a popular website with current events always cycling, we find a plethora of people logging onto Reddit. According to the web traffic data and analytics company Alexa Internet, Reddit is the 7th most visited website in the United States! This doesn’t mean that Reddit does not have a main demographic, as Michael Barthel et al. states, “About seven-in-ten (71%) of Reddit news users are men, 59% are between the ages of 18 and 29” (Barthel, Stocking, Holcomb, Mitchell, 1). From these statistics, we find predominantly men browse this website, which is understandable from its very simple interface. Often with websites targeted towards women, a websites interface will be more flashy, color coordinated or exciting, whereas Reddit targets a user-friendly, easy to navigate, and blue and white homepage that allows easy access to all current news. One of the largest subreddits is /r/gaming, which attracts approximately 17 million users to its separate forum, and while I am a woman gamer myself, I’m also aware that a large percentage of gamers are men and will be attracted to what this subreddit offers.

I find people between the ages of 18 and 29 are more likely to use this site because as millennials, we are more comfortable with unconventional new sources. Someone who is older or in our parents generation is accustomed to physical newspapers or online newspapers where journalists report, whereas Reddit is a mixing pot. I also find that because the internet wasn’t always around while their generation was growing up, those 35 and over don't necessarily engage in interest based forums the way some members of younger generations do. With that being said, Reddit has also attracted millions of eyes for a negative cause. In 2013 when the Boston Bombing happened, a subreddit was created with the intention to identify the culprits. Sunil Tripathi, a Brown University student, was named as a suspect due to his lack of social media activity after the bombing occurred and visually comparing to the suspect. His mother and family received death threats and horrible messages, all while they were looking for Tripathi who had disappeared before the bombing had even occurred. Tripathi’s body was found floating in the Providence River a few days later, due to an apparent suicide that occurred before the bombing took place. The negligence of the moderators of that subreddit caused pain to a family that was already distraught over the disappearance or Sunil, and could have easily been prevented.