Of all the time sinks across the Internet, Reddit might be the king. The phenomenally popular platform, which has communities for pretty much any interest imaginable, has posted its 2022 recap, and it’s apparent that more and more people are embracing their inner Snoo (Reddit’s alien mascot).
Last year, the site topped 100,000 active subreddits, with 430 million posts (a 14% increase from 2021). Comments were up 7% to more than 2.5 billion. And upvotes on the site hit 24 billion.
Communally, redditors flocked most to the subreddit r/amitheasshole (AITA), where people post scenarios and seek input from the community on whether they’re in the wrong or another party was. In keeping with the feedback theme, r/askreddit was the second-most viewed community. And, given the global events of the year, it’s not entirely surprising that r/worldnews came in third.
(In a sign of the changing times, r/wallstreetbets was not mentioned in the recap.)
Of more interest to redditors, though, might be the recap for individual users. You’ll see things like your most upvoted comment and the subreddits where you spent the most time (through the end of November).
It’s the hours spent that are likely to showcase to users just how much of a black hole Reddit can be. The personal recap shows not only the hours you spend scrolling the site, but puts those into context with how many trips to the moon that translates to.
“From embracing inner-kid energy and celebrating special moments, to seeking advice and joining together for good, redditors kept it real this year,” the site said in a blog post.
The increased traffic and engagement is good news for Reddit, which quietly filed for an IPO at the end of 2021. The company has stayed in a holding pattern with the public offering this year, as the market has fallen, but many investors expect it to begin trading next year. At the time of its filing, Reddit said it expected to exceed $1 billion in annual ad revenue by 2023.
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