Reddit’s time to shine

If you work in communications right now, Reddit’s resurgence is hard to resist. The social media platform, which launched more than 20 years ago, is back in the headlines having overtaken TikTok to become the fourth most visited social media site in the UK with reach of around 60% of the population.

Once dubbed the ‘Front page of the Internet’, Reddit has long been one of the most influential places online for shaping opinion and culture. Recently, however, it has drawn a new kind of attention due to its increasing influence on how AI feeds us information. It’s for this reason that every comms chief should be looking to master it in 2026.

But Reddit isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s different to other mainstream social media platforms when it comes to brand presence, and requires a unique approach. As an OG Redditor, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly on there, so here are my top tips for getting Reddit-ready in 2026.

Why now for Reddit?

As generative AI increasingly powers search and discovery, Reddit’s hive mind is appearing everywhere. Reddit content is among leading sources of information in AI summaries due to deals struck with Google and OpenAI, which allow them to use Reddit’s data to train their AI models. This means brands and marketers are more interested than ever in paying attention to their brand on Reddit, and finding proactive ways to contribute to its community.

There’s another reason Reddit is rising in prominence: Elon Musk. Since Musk’s takeover of Twitter (now X) in 2022, and its subsequent changes – most notably, lack of content moderation – many of its loyal community have looked for other places to connect and share opinions.

While platforms such as Bluesky, Threads and Mastodon haven’t quite hit the mark for many users and brands alike, Reddit has seen user numbers surge – especially among communities that had been popular on Twitter, including news, sport and politics.

What makes Reddit different from the rest of the pack has historically been what has held it back. But this is exactly what makes Reddit such a compelling option now, and it has a lot to do with its users and its foundations…

Redditors are Reddit

Reddit is unique as far as social media marketing communities go, not just because of how it works, but also how its users protect its authenticity. Redditors are what make Reddit so different.

The highly engaged Reddit community tends to repel most efforts to turn their social network into a brand’s playground. Even advertising on the platform has to contribute to the community in some way to work well.

This means that while many marketing strategies frame social platforms around reach, engagement and conversion, Reddit plays a different role.

Subreddits define Reddit

Reddit’s community and size are deceptive as it’s not really one social network. While Reddit has over 1 billion monthly active users, it actually comprises millions of interconnected forums, known as ‘subreddits’, whose users and owners fiercely guard what’s okay to post, and who’s allowed in.

Some subreddits are huge and highly active. The subreddit r/Unexpected, for example, has 12m subscribers, 4m weekly visitors and feels like a TikTok For You Page. r/WorldNews, which is 18 years old, has 46 million members. I’m an Elder in that one. It gets 164k contributions per week and is one of the busiest subreddits. r/OddlySatisfying is the kind of subreddit where memes are born, with its 2.8m weekly visitors posting 20k times per week on average.

Niche subreddits are hugely popular, even moderately sized ones. There’s such a vast array of topics covered that brands and marketers will easily find one that suits. From r/AskElectronics to r/Curling, r/FormulaE to r/LinkedInLunatics (one of my personal favorites) there’s something for all.

First steps for the uninitiated

If you work in comms and are thinking it’s time to get involved in Reddit, there are some essential steps to follow.

First, get to know Reddit inside out. Create a personal account to explore how it works, and spend time researching products, topics and communities that are core to your brand. Pay close attention to how users and brands interact, and how advertising fits in among content themes.

Next, think about how you can make the most of Reddit’s uniqueness, such as its Ask Me Anything interviews. These are very popular and a good first step into building trust with a community.

Above all, don’t be a dick. You’ll get your content removed, you might even get kicked out. Reddit isn’t a free-for-all, but it is an incredibly free and creative set of communities, and I think social media is all the better for it.