TL;DR: Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a decision reinforcing that the First Amendment prevents governments from interfering with the expressive moderation decisions of online communities while sending the NetChoice cases back to the lower courts.

It’s me, u/traceroo, again, aka Ben Lee, Reddit’s Chief Legal Officer. I wanted to share a quick update on the NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice cases before the Supreme Court that we previously discussed. To recap, those cases concerned a constitutional challenge to state laws trying to restrict how platforms – and their users – can moderate content. And we filed an amicus brief here discussing how these laws could negatively impact not only Reddit, but the entire Internet. (The mods of r/law and r/SCOTUS filed their own amicus brief as well.)

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a decision affirming that the First Amendment prevents governments from interfering with the expressive moderation decisions of online communities, and sent both cases back to the appeals court while keeping an injunction in place that stops enforcement of these laws. In its decision, the majority noted that “a State may not interfere with private actors’ speech to advance its own vision of ideological balance” and that “government efforts to alter an edited compilation of third-party expression are subject to judicial review for compliance with the First Amendment.”

We are encouraged that the Supreme Court recognizes that the First Amendment protects the content moderation decisions on Reddit, reflected by the actions of moderators, admins, and the votes of redditors. They also recognized that these state laws would impact certain sites and apps very differently (although at least one concurring opinion demonstrated a startlingly poor understanding of how Reddit works; you can read more about our approach to moderation here and in our amicus brief). As our experience with the Texas law demonstrates (we were sued over moderators removing an insult directed at the fictional character Wesley Crusher from Star Trek), laws like these restrict people’s speech and associational rights and incentivize wasteful litigation.

We’re hopeful that the appeals courts will issue decisions consistent with the Supreme Court majority’s guidance. I’ll stick around for a little bit to answer questions.

TL;DR - Awards are back. We’re also expanding the Contributor Program and announcing a make-good program for those who lost coins during the last product iteration. Let’s start with the obvious – we tried something new, it wasn’t great (you called it). And now – it’s time for us to do something about it. So we’re (re)launching awards, not-so-new but definitely improved. Rollout starts today on reddit.com and Reddit’s iOS and Android apps.

We messed up – sorry

ICYMI, last year we released new features that we thought would make the experience of rewarding high-quality posts and comments even better. To address feedback that awards were starting to clutter posts and feeds, we replaced legacy awards with a simplified experience where redditors could purchase “new” gold – displayed as a golden upvote – directly with cash, rather than having to purchase coins first.

While the golden upvote was certainly simpler in theory, in practice, it missed the mark. It wasn’t as fun or expressive as legacy awards, and it was unclear how it benefited the recipient.

As part of the launch of the golden upvote, we also introduced the Contributor Program in the U.S. The program allows eligible users to earn cash for their contributions, as measured by the gold and karma received. (It’s worth noting that although there were understandable concerns about the Contributor Program leading to karma farming or other spam and fraud issues, we haven’t seen an increase in this behavior since the rollout six months ago.) Unlike the golden upvote, interest in the program has grown… more on that in a second.

Finally, as part of this launch, we sunset coins. We gave those with a balance two months to spend their coins before we cleared balances and removed the monthly drip as a benefit of Reddit Premium.

Award upgrades

We realized the golden upvote was the wrong direction, and the right one was the one you were advocating for all along: awards. We went back to the ol’ drawing board and created a refreshed experience that captures the original spirit of awards, with a few improvements.

Tap on the awards button in a post or comment to give an award and purchase gold

View the top awards and gold earned by a post or comment in the awards leaderboard

We’ve added:

• An award button back underneath eligible posts and comments
• Refreshed designs of some of your favorite awards, and some new ones (shoutout galaxy brain)
• Updated interface designed to minimize clutter on the posts and in your feeds
• An awards leaderboard that shows the top awards and gold earned for a post or comment
• New safety guardrails. Awards are not available in NSFW subreddits, trauma and addiction support subreddits, and subreddits with mature content
• Reporting so you can report any awards that aren’t being used appropriately for moderator removal

Contributor Program expansion

We want redditors who make the most valuable contributions on Reddit to receive real value; not just internet points.

With growing interest in the Contributor Program, we have expanded the program so that qualifying redditors in 35 countries can now earn cash for their contributions to the community. See if you’re eligible to sign up.

The Evolution of Gold and Coins

Gold has been a lot of things in Reddit history. The term has been used interchangeably in the context of awarding content, Reddit Premium, and more – among other things. With this new version of awards, gold can be purchased to give awards. You can buy it in bulk and spend down your gold balance and/or top it up when giving an award.

Those who had a coin balance when we introduced the golden upvote and sunset coins had two months to spend their coins before we cleared balances and removed the monthly drip as a benefit of Reddit Premium. For the most prolific and helpful among you, who’d accumulated heaps of coins a la Scrooge McDuck, this was, shall we say, a not-so-great experience.

We know we did not adequately communicate why we removed coins or what was coming next. It wasn’t cool of us, we’re sorry, and we want to make it right. If we removed your coins balance, you’ll have access to a number of exclusive awards to give for free. We don’t want our past mistakes to get in the way of you enjoying the new experience.

Exclusive awards available to coin holders

This is all so new (but kinda old? but also new?) and you may have questions. You can find support in a few places:

• FAQs pinned in the comments of this post
• What are awards and how do I use them?
• What is gold and how do I use it?
• What is the Contributor Program and how can I participate?

We’ll be hanging around today if you have any questions, so feel free to drop them in the comments.

TL;DR Hosting and participating in AMAs just got easier. As a host, you can now schedule and promote AMAs ahead of time, appoint co-hosts, and announce when your post is done. Attendees can now sign up for reminders ahead of time, get notified when the AMA starts, and quickly jump to questions that the host has replied to.

You can’t throw a virtual rock on Reddit without hitting an AMA (ask me anything), where an OP (original poster) shares a key detail about their life and prompts users to ask them anything. Historically, AMAs have been regular text posts with certain elements that make it an AMA post: a proof photo that shows that you are who you say you are, a brief bio, and of course the iconic “AMA!” in the header.

Now, we’re supercharging these special posts. Using the new AMA tab in the web composer (coming soon to mobile) unlocks a suite of special tools that make it easier to spin up and participate in an AMA post.

Quick note that this feature is in limited release right now, but you can expect it to roll out to more redditors in the coming weeks.

If you’re hosting:

Schedule and promote your AMA ahead of time - No more creating two separate posts for an AMA: one to announce it, and one for when it actually starts. With the new AMA post feature, you can now schedule an AMA up to 21 days ahead of the event, and this scheduled post can be promoted and used to capture questions ahead of time, so you can hit the ground running when it starts. Currently, this new AMA post creation is only available on desktop, but will be available on mobile soon.

https://preview.redd.it/800oagoy7f0d1.png?width=8000&format=png&auto=webp&s=046cf2bc812a8b3b1a37260f3351055d2a0817fe

Add co-hosts - While there is still only one OP, a host can now bring in up to five co-hosts, from friends to mods to publicists to cats. Co-hosts can reply to questions, and their responses will be highlighted in the same way as the OP’s.

https://preview.redd.it/foj36c1a8f0d1.png?width=1850&format=png&auto=webp&s=9ecc1ce41dc4dcd5017b2a7e4d920d6d87a7bf4a

End an AMA with a link and a note - When hosting, you can now gracefully exit with a thank you note that includes a link if you want to share more details to mark the official end of the AMA. No more sad questions wondering “Is OP even still here?”

https://preview.redd.it/2l68e8hc8f0d1.png?width=1850&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a1319e5958f4c1e6745ae96ddc2210dc47d7616

If you’re viewing an AMA:

Get reminders for upcoming AMA posts - If you come across an AMA that hasn’t started yet, you can now hit that Remind Me button and get a push notification 24 hours before the AMA begins, and right when the AMA starts. Reminders will also go to your Inbox under “Activity,” and the posts will show up in your Home feed.

https://preview.redd.it/gnxs6nif8f0d1.png?width=1850&format=png&auto=webp&s=139aabc426fcc8c7adf0d47070b699cb29a4337c

Filter on answered/unanswered - Viewers can easily switch between three views: one containing all the comments on a post, one that just shows where the OP and co-hosts have replied, and one that shows where they haven’t replied yet. This is a great place to check and see if your question has already been asked– and if not, we hope you jump in.

https://i.redd.it/xlnabelw8f0d1.gif

You can see a schedule of some of our upcoming AMAs here. This is just the start of our journey for giving AMA posts the love they deserve. We’ll be hanging around all day for your thoughts, so let us know what you think in the comments!

TL;DR (this is a lengthy post, but stay with us until the end: as a lawyer, I am not allowed to be brief):

We are, unfortunately, seeing more and more commercial entities collecting public data, including Reddit content, in bulk with no regard for user rights or privacy. We believe in preserving public access to Reddit content, but in distributing Reddit content, we need to work with trusted partners that will agree in writing to reasonable protections for redditors. They should respect user decisions to delete their content as well as anything Reddit removes for violating our Content Policy, and they cannot abuse their access by using Reddit content to identify or surveil users.

In line with this, and to be more transparent about how we protect data on Reddit, today we published our Public Content Policy, which outlines how we manage access to public content on our platform at scale.

At the same time, we continue to believe in supporting public access to Reddit content for researchers and those who believe in responsible non-commercial use of public data. This is why we’re building new tools for researchers and introducing a new subreddit, r/reddit4researchers. Our goal is for this sub to evolve into a place to better support researchers and academics and improve their access to Reddit data.

Hi, redditors - I’m u/Traceroo, Reddit’s Chief Legal Officer, and today I’m sharing more about how we protect content on Reddit.

Our Public Content Policy

Reddit is an inherently public platform, and we want to keep it that way. Although we’ve shared our POV before, we’re publishing this policy to give you all (whether you are a redditor, moderator, researcher, or developer) a better sense of how we think about access to public content and the protections that should exist for users against misuse of public content.

This is distinct from our Privacy Policy, which covers how we handle the minimal private/personal information users provide to us (such as email). It’s not our Content Policy, which sets out our rules for what content and behavior is allowed on the platform.

What we consider public content on Reddit

Public content includes all of the content – like posts and comments, usernames and profiles, public karma scores, etc. (for a longer list, you can check out our public API) – that Reddit distributes and makes publicly available to redditors, visitors who use the service, and developers, e.g. to be extra clear, it doesn’t include stuff we don’t make public, such as private messages or mod mail, or non-public account information, such as email address, browsing history, IP address, etc. (this is stuff we don’t and would never license or distribute, because we believe Privacy is a Right).

Preventing the misuse and abuse of public content

Unfortunately, we see more and more commercial entities using unauthorized access or misusing authorized access to collect public data in bulk, including Reddit public content. Worse, these entities perceive they have no limitation on their usage of that data, and they do so with no regard for user rights or privacy, ignoring reasonable legal, safety, and user removal requests. While we will continue our efforts to block known bad actors, we can’t continue to assume good intentions. We need to do more to restrict access to Reddit public content at scale to trusted actors who have agreed to abide by our policies. But we also need to continue to ensure that users, mods, researchers, and other good-faith, non-commercial actors have access.

The policy, at-a-glance

Our policy outlines the information partners can access via any public-content licensing agreements. It also outlines the commitments we make to users about usage of this content, explaining how:

• We require our partners to uphold the privacy of redditors and their communities. This includes respecting users’ decisions to delete their content and any content we remove for violating our Content Policy.
• Partners are not allowed to use content to identify individuals or their personal information, including for ad targeting purposes.
• Partners cannot use Reddit content to spam or harass redditors.
• Partners are not allowed to use Reddit content to conduct background checks, facial recognition, government surveillance, or help law enforcement do any of the above.
• Partners cannot access public content that includes adult media.
• And, as always, we don’t sell the personal information of redditors.

What’s a policy without enforcement?

Anyone accessing Reddit content must abide by our policies, and we are selective about who we work with and trust with large-scale access to Reddit content. We will block access to those that don’t agree to our policies, and we will continue to enhance our capabilities to hunt down and catch bad actors. We don’t want to but, if necessary, we’ll also take legal action.

What changes for me as a user?

Nothing changes for redditors. You can continue using Reddit logged in, logged out, on mobile, etc.

What do users get out of these agreements?

Users get protections against misuse of public content. Also, commercial agreements allow us to invest more in making Reddit better as a platform and product.

Who can access public content on Reddit?

In addition to those we have agreements with, Reddit Data API access remains free for non-commercial researchers and academics under our published usage threshold. It also remains accessible for organizations like the Internet Archive.

Reddit for Research

It’s important to us that we continue to preserve public access to Reddit content for researchers and those who believe in responsible non-commercial use of public data. We believe in and recognize the value that public Reddit content provides to researchers and academics. Academics contribute meaningful and important research that helps shape our understanding of how people interact online. To continue studying the impacts of how behavioral patterns evolve online, access to public data is essential.

That’s why we’re building tools and an environment to help researchers access Reddit content. If you're an academic or researcher, and interested in learning more, head over to r/reddit4researchers and check out u/KeyserSosa’s first post.

Thank you to the users and mods who gave us feedback in developing this Public Content Policy, including u/abrownn, u/AkaashMaharaj, u/Full_Stall_Indicator, u/Georgy_K_Zhukov, u/Khyta,  u/Kindapuffy, u/lil_spazjoekp, u/Pedantichrist, u/shiruken, u/SQLwitch, and u/yellowmix, among others.

EDIT: Formatting and fighting markdown.

TL;DR Getting to comments on Reddit’s iOS and Android mobile apps just got easier and much faster with instant comment loading, shortcuts to comments, and consistent comment navigation.

Hi! I’m u/such084 and I lead a number of product teams at Reddit, including one dedicated to building our comment experience. I’m here today to share some updates on this experience on Reddit’s native apps.

Whether you’ve been here for two decades, two years, or two days, you know that conversations are the heart of Reddit (where else can we have convos like this or this). Comments are where we find each other, across time zones and topics. This year, the team is focused on making Reddit the best on the internet at conversations.

H/T to Reddit’s User Feedback Collective — a group of redditors who expressed interest in helping us test early builds and provided feedback which has led to the update you see today. We knew the only way to build a better experience would be to include the community in the process.

Here’s what’s rolling out to everyone on Reddit’s iOS and Android apps today.

Instant comment loading - Comments now load faster than ever. As you’re browsing a post, the entire conversation is getting ready for you, in a fraction of a second.

Comments now load instantly

Shortcut to comments - Previously, if you tapped on the comments button to read the comments of a post, you would land on the post. Now you’ll go directly to the top of the comments. And if you want to revisit the original post, there’s a stickied context bar at the top of the page. With a single tap, you can return to the post body or dive into the image, GIF, or video.

Tap on the Comments button to go straight to the conversation

Consistent comment navigation across post types - Joining a conversation has not been easy with different ways of navigating to comments from image, video, or text posts. To create a more consistent and seamless flow across all post types, we’re introducing a unified media player, immersive transitions, and consistent gestures.

Simply swipe up for comments; swipe left for new content.

(And thanks to the UFC’s feedback, you can get an enlarged view of an image or video from your feed with a single tap)

Swipe up for comments and swipe left for new content whether you’re in the post or browsing media

If you want to continue building this experience with us, come join the Reddit UFC!

A few of us will stick around in case you have questions - comment away!

​

https://preview.redd.it/lxgiz4dtl9wc1.png?width=2800&format=png&auto=webp&s=348d45f1f4d3a3af38084edb18918183d1d6edb7

What do spiders, basketball, and anime fandoms all have in common? Besides being topics that redditors love geeking out about, this is a list of communities that have tapped into Reddit’s one-of-a-kind Community Funds program to create unique and special moments for their members that bring them closer together.

We launched the Community Funds program two years ago with a commitment of $1 million to help take your community passions from URL to IRL. Since then, your distinct ideas and collaborative teamwork have led to some original, impactful, and downright cool user-driven experiences on and off of Reddit. r/NBA raised funds for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, r/NFL celebrated their sports allegiances, and r/ChicagoFood created dinner party FOMO for a lot of us. And that’s just in the past year alone!

To commemorate these past two years, we’re excited to recap all the amazing and creative things that communities have accomplished together with support from the Community Funds program and give a little sneak peek into our plans for the next year.

Community Funds by the numbers (since launch in 2022):

• 94 eligible applications received*
• 30 proposals funded
• $320,000 in funding disbursed
• 33 million+ redditors engage in these funded communities
• 5+ countries represented across these initiatives including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Germany

*151 total applications were received. Applications are deemed eligible based on program guidelines including the country where the applicant is based, established subreddit presence, application completion, and other criteria. Moderators based in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand are eligible to apply. For more information about the application process and program requirements, please visit here.

Recent community highlights:

• r/chicagofood kicked off the new year by reserving 150 seats at a neighborhood restaurant for members of their community.

Photo credit: u/TriedForMitchcraft

• r/SMARTRecovery gave away resources to help members of their community facilitate discussions around addiction recovery.
• r/NBA continued the celebration of their 15th Cake Day with a meetup in Indianapolis for All-Star Weekend, taking 48 people from their community to All-Star Saturday Night and raising $6,200 for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

https://preview.redd.it/ccg1gkpen9wc1.jpg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=00e3a3e5db4f78913cc911b27328629a37904c4d

• r/anime brought back their annual Anime Awards and leveraged Community Funds to reward fan art, creative writing and video contest, and trivia champions!
• r/AustralianSpiders showcased their community member’s artistic skills through a contest to spotlight some very photogenic arachnids.

Photo credit: u/Happy_Clem

• r/FreeGameFindings is rewarding the creativity and eye for design of community members with a gift pack of games like no other.
• r/teenagers relaunched their podcast, TeenCast, featuring special guests and discussing important topics!

TeenCast logo

• r/nfl went to the sidelines for the 2024 Pro Bowl to create a one-of-a-kind Ask Me Anything (AMA) experience with football stars Quinnen Williams representing the AFC and Dexter Lawrence representing the NFC. And there were snazzy AMA booths!

https://preview.redd.it/8m45778go9wc1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=88d1fb6162c1c9aeb13706347b5550cbb8af85b9

New in 2024: Reddit Meetup Week x Community Funds:

Every year, you continue to power Community Funds by proposing incredible new ways to collectively bring your passion and interests to life. Our expansion of the program is fully driven by your submissions (last year we launched support for donation matching!) and we’re always impressed by the inspiring ideas you curate.

• We’re thrilled to announce that Community Funds can be a helpful resource when you bring your community together for Reddit Meetup Week. For this URL to IRL event, you can submit proposals to take your community to the movies, for supplies to host trash cleanups, or to host a virtual book club – and Community Funds can provide support where it’s needed.
• Complete this special application before May 1st to have your proposal considered for Reddit Meetup Week.
• Visit r/CommunityFunds to ask questions, sign up for office hours to discuss your ideas, or get inspired by what other communities have planned!

https://preview.redd.it/7w1roz8ro9wc1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=a5969fe6bae0a37bc8d48fb5b1da262661ff2976

Each application has helped to raise the ceiling of what’s possible through Community Funds. No project idea is too big or too small. Whether you want to start a book club or you’d like to write a book together, thank you for sharing your ideas with us. Please keep them coming!

We’re sticking around for a while, if you have questions for us in the comments!

​

TL;DR

Here’s what we’re getting up to this year:

• Making moderating easier and introducing new safety tools.
• Improving the user experience.
• Enabling developers to bring new experiences to Reddit.

Hi, redditors, this is the Reddit Product Team and we’re here to share what we’re building to make Reddit the best place for communities and conversations. Here are some of the big things we’re working on.

Making moderating easier

We’re rolling out more sophisticated and AI-powered moderation tools to make mobile modding easier. Think superpowered Post Guidance on mobile, keyword highlighting to quickly find content that contains phrases captured by Automod, and saved responses so mods no longer need to leave the app to copy and paste when they need templated responses. Tools to help mods more efficiently manage influxes of community members and conversations are also on their way. More deets on this are posted here.

Post Guidance in r/askreddit

Updated Mod Queue on desktop

Last, but not least, you’ll continue to see new safety tools that expand on features we released in the past few months, like improved automated removal of undesired content, LLM-powered harassment filters, and user details reporting.

New harassment filter, which is highly-customizable to filter out what mods don’t want

Expanded user reporting capabilities

Improving the user experience

TBH, we’re really trying to amp up the number of times we can comment with FTFY this year. Here’s what’s on the way:

• Faster redditting and improved access to shortcuts and transitions. ICYMI, our new web platform is more than twice as fast, and 2023 saw a more than 10% reduction in app start time.
• New ways to search.
• Simpler experiences for navigating conversations that will be the same regardless of how you use Reddit: in-app, on desktop, logged-out, etc.

We want to bring you cohesive, intuitive, and speedy experiences across every single screen. And before you ask, we’re going to continue to support old Reddit, which many of you (and us) love! IYKYK. We’ve already incorporated some of the best elements of old.reddit into recent updates.

Compact view of our updated web experience with a collapsible navigation bar coming soon.

Cohesive experience across web surfaces

We also want everyone to be able to make Reddit their own, regardless of where they live or the language(s) they speak. We’re making communities and conversations more accessible across more languages, meaning people can engage with content in their own language, no matter what language that subreddit is originally created in.

Localized content in a user’s preferred language

In terms of improving accessibility, so far this year we’ve introduced closed captioning on videos and font resizing on our native mobile apps. There’s much more on the way, and our goal is to be compliant with the World Wide Web Consortium’s accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.1) by the end of 2024.

Closed Captioning on video

We said goodbye to a few products and features in 2023, some of which we may have parted with too early – specifically Awards. We messed up; we lost some of the whimsy and Reddit-y-ness that Awards brought to the platform. This year we’re working to bring back Awards in a way that combines the fun and expression they originally offered, combined with real money value to redditors participating in the Contributor Program.

AMAs - you know them, you love them, sometimes you didn’t even get the chance to ask Keanu your question because wait, that was today? I thought I set a !remindme…

This year we’re revamping and modernizing the entire AMA experience - from hosting, to the questions, and yes, even event reminders. More to come this AMAy (see what we did there?)

New AMA scheduler and event reminder, coming soon

Enabling developers to bring new experiences to Reddit

We’re ramping up our Developer Platform to bring new ways for the community to co-create elements that make Reddit more engaging and fun. While admins are building new tools for the platform all the time, we want to give community developers the same opportunity - because, at the end of the day, it’s redditors who know the best and most exciting ways to move the platform forward.

Already this year we’ve seen new, developer-built apps on Reddit, like the Super Bowl (Taylor's Version) - San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs custom scoreboard in r/taylorswift, and a new module highlighting what’s trending in r/wallstreetbets.

Developer tools make moments like r/wallstreetbets daily tracker and Super Bowl Scorecard (Taylor’s Version) happen

Watch this space. You’ll see more live score formats for sports, interactive games, and new post types in the coming months.

These are just a few highlights of what’s coming in 2024. We know we need to build what you want, so if you’re interested in providing feedback on Reddit products, you can join our User Feedback Collective.

A few of us are sticking around to answer any questions you may have, so fire away!

We’ve dug up what’s trending lately so you don’t have to: some subs are long-standing groups having a current moment, others are recently growing communities reflecting new internet trends. But they’re all good ways to get curious or nosy or fascinated, or fall into wormholes of stuff you didn’t even know you were into (or needed).

Here’s a list of the latest subs taking up all our time these days. Check ‘em out, and let us know what communities are taking up space in your brains right now:

r/NowThatsANiceStick

For nice sticks found in the wild, and for people who want to stare at them. Touch grass, touch sticks?

r/CupboardDetective

Where you can freely judge the insides of strangers’ cupboards, pantries, and fridges. Go on, you know you want to.

r/WhatIsMyCookieCutter

A collection of the most confusing cutters and the cookies you can make with them. Cookie Monster may or may not be a mod…

r/ShogunTVShow

The book that’s now FX’s latest miniseries is rising up the Reddit charts. Just keep your eyes peeled for ‘spoiler’ flair.

r/PencilStabbers

When you get stabbed in the hand with a pencil I think you legally have to post it here now. Whom amongst us does not have a gray speck somewhere on their body?

r/HappyCryingDads

I have been visiting this subreddit just to look for my own dad (he’s not in there). I’m not crying, you’re crying. No, literally, you’re crying (if you’re a Dad featured here).

Make those suggestions below!

We know this is normally the place for Reddit product, platform, and Oscar’s updates, so if you want to see Reddit, Inc. investor-related news and content, head on over to r/RDDT. Spoiler alert: as a community, r/RDDT will have regulatory limitations and operate slightly differently (lawyercat).

Hey redditors! I’m u/NorthXCX, and while you’re used to seeing product and company updates from r/reddit, we’re gonna try some new things here to get you better connected across the Reddit universe. In addition to continuing to keep you updated on platform happenings, we also want to be your guardians of the galaxy, guiding you to the best subreddits and places to dive into anything.

Film is huge on Reddit, with more than 500 subreddits dedicated to movies. And what better time to debate and discuss film than during the Oscars, the world’s most-watched awards show? The business of predicting the winners is so booming that it’s genuinely shocking when the evening’s statuettes go to truly surprising winners.

But how would it play out if the Academy Awards happened on Reddit? Since the Oscars nominees were announced, we’ve been tracking keyword volume for the most popular films, actors, and directors on the platform who were nominated this year… the conversation drivers that stuck with you long enough to champion, troll, and shitpost. Below are this year’s big categories, with nominees ranked based on the highest percentage share of mentions in posts and comments against one another.

(data below is Keyword Volume count across all of Reddit, tracked since nominations day. Source: Reddit Internal, Global, 1/23/24–3/5/24)

Best Picture

1. Barbie: 44%
2. Oppenheimer: 18%
3. Maestro: 9%
4. Poor Things: 8%
5. Past Lives: 7%
6. Killers of the Flower Moon: 3%
7. The Holdovers: 3%
8. Anatomy of a Fall: 3%
9. American Fiction: 3%
10. The Zone of Interest: 2%

Best Director

1. Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer: 53%
2. Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon: 25%
3. Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things: 10%
4. Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall: 6%
5. Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest: 6%

Best Actor

1. Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer: 36%
2. Bradley Cooper, Maestro: 32%
3. Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers: 18%
4. Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction: 8%
5. Colman Domingo, Rustin: 6%

Best Actress

1. Emma Stone, Poor Things: 68%
2. Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon: 14%
3. Carey Mulligan, Maestro: 8%
4. Sandra Huller, Anatomy of a Fall: 6%
5. Annette Bening, Nyad: 4%

Supporting Actor

1. Ryan Gosling, Barbie: 52%
2. Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer: 17%
3. Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon: 15%
4. Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things; 12%
5. Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction: 4%

Supporting Actress

1. Jodie Foster, Nyad: 47%
2. Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer: 29%
3. America Ferrera, Barbie: 17%
4. Da’vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers: 4%
5. Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple: 3%

Either way the trophies go, there’s gonna be lots to discuss all over Reddit, and if you need some places to gossip, gripe and get into all the action, here are some subreddits that will be running megathreads during Oscars night:

r/Movies - The largest subreddit for the love of film

r/TheBigPicture - Oscars talk from your favorite film podcast

r/popculturechat - From red carpet hits and misses to show analysis

r/Fauxmoi - Your new favorite subreddit for celeb gossip

The TL;DR on this year’s show: Jimmy Kimmel is hosting for the fourth time, which, sure! Oppenheimer is probably going to win Best Picture and turn many more of its 13 nominations into wins. Poor Things has 11 nods, Killers of the Flower Moon has 10 and Saltburn still has nothing, which Hillary Clinton has remained dead silent on! The equally snubbed Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig will be asked to watch Ryan Gosling perform “I’m Just Ken”, because the Academy chose chaos in 2017 and have chosen chaos every year since…

https://i.redd.it/x7539889h5nc1.gif

Who do you want to take home Oscars gold? Still want justice for this year’s biggest snubs? Do you think the most popular actors and films on Reddit will be the same the Academy chooses? Let us know in the comments!

EDIT: fixed formatting

We can’t imagine a Reddit IPO without redditors. You Rickrolled Rick Astley. You gave us Mr. Splashy Pants. And r/Place… (you’re welcome, internet). And now you can become one of our (non-corporate) overlords. Yes, it’s really happening this time, and as we take the next step toward becoming a public company, we’re inviting all eligible redditors to participate in Reddit’s IPO.

“Eligible” you note skeptically? Yes. Unfortunately, there are a ton of imposed legal restrictions defining when, who, and how we do this. So while our goal is to give all redditors the same access to stock as institutional investors (why should they have all the fun?), our lawyercats tell us we must follow specific rules listed below.

Our Directed Share Program (“DSP”) is set up to let eligible users and moderators own a piece of Reddit by purchasing Reddit stock at the same price as institutional investors when we IPO. We will offer this opportunity to as many redditors as we are able to accommodate, and the number of people who can participate is limited.

As much as we’d like to, we are limited from sharing more or answering questions. But if you are interested in learning about how to participate in Reddit’s DSP, please see more information here.

Prospectus and Important Disclosures

The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the preliminary prospectus, when available, may be obtained from: Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10014, telephone: 1-866-718-1649, or email: prospectus@morganstanley.com; Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282, telephone: 1-866-471-2526, facsimile: 212-902-9316, or email: prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, telephone: 1-866-803-9204, or email: prospectus-eq_fi@jpmorgan.com; and BofA Securities, Inc., NC1-004-03-43, 200 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, North Carolina 28255-0001, Attention: Prospectus Department, telephone: 1-800-294-1322, or email: dg.prospectus_requests@bofa.com.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This notification shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

No offer to buy the securities can be accepted and no part of the purchase price can be received until the registration statement has become effective, and any such offer may be withdrawn or revoked, without obligation or commitment of any kind, at any time prior to the notice of its acceptance given after the effective date. An indication of interest in response to this notification will involve no obligation or commitment of any kind.

Hi everyone, I’m u/traceroo aka Ben Lee, Reddit’s Chief Legal Officer, and I’m sharing a heads-up on an important Supreme Court case in the United States that could significantly impact freedom of expression online around the world.

TL;DR

In 2021, Texas and Florida passed laws (Texas House Bill 20 and Florida Senate Bill 7072) trying to restrict how platforms – and their users – can moderate content, with the goal of prohibiting “censorship” of other viewpoints. While these laws were written for platforms very different from Reddit, they could have serious consequences for our users and the broader Internet.

We’re standing up for the First Amendment rights of Redditors to define their own content rules in their own spaces in an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief we filed in the Supreme Court in the NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice cases. You can see our brief here. I’m here to answer your questions and encourage you to crosspost in your communities for further discussion.

While these are US state laws, their impact would be felt by all Internet users. They would allow a single, government-defined model for online expression to replace the community-driven content moderation approaches of online spaces like Reddit, making content on Reddit--and the Internet as a whole--less relevant and more open to harassment.

This isn’t hypothetical: in 2022, a Reddit user in Texas sued us under the Texas law (HB 20) after he was banned by the moderators of the r/StarTrek community. He had posted a disparaging comment about the Star Trek character Wesley Crusher (calling him a “soy boy”), which earned him a ban under the community’s rule to “be nice.” (It is the height of irony that a comment about Wil Wheaton’s character would violate Wheaton’s Law of “don’t be a dick.”) Instead of taking his content elsewhere, or starting his own community, this user sued Reddit, asking the court to reinstate him in r/StarTrek and award him monetary damages. While we were able to stand up for the moderators of r/StarTrek and get the case dismissed (on procedural grounds), the Supreme Court is reviewing these laws and will decide whether they comply with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Our experience with HB 20 demonstrates the potential impact of these laws on shared online communities as well as the sort of frivolous litigation they incentivize.

If these state laws are upheld, our community moderators could be forced to keep up content that is irrelevant, harassing, or even harmful. Imagine if every cat community was forced to accept random dog-lovers’ comments. Or if the subreddit devoted to your local city had to keep up irrelevant content about other cities or topics. What if every comment that violated a subreddit’s specific moderation rules had to be left up? You can check out the amicus brief filed by the moderators of r/SCOTUS and r/law for even more examples (they filed their brief independently from us, and it includes examples of the types of content that they remove from their communities–and that these laws would require them to leave up).

Every community on Reddit gets to define what content they embrace and reject through their upvotes and downvotes, and the rules their volunteer moderators set and enforce. It is not surprising that one of the most common community rules is some form of “be civil,” since most communities want conversations that are civil and respectful. And as Reddit the company, we believe our users should always have that right to create and curate online communities without government interference.

Although this case is still ultimately up to the Supreme Court (oral argument will be held on February 26 – you can listen live here on the day), your voice matters. If you’re in the US, you can call your US Senator or Representative to make your voice heard.

This is a lot of information to unpack, so I’ll stick around for a bit to answer your questions.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

I’m filling in for u/BrineOfTheTimes today, bringing you this month’s Changelog. Keep reading to learn about the latest changes on Reddit, including new ways to find new-to-you communities and the sunsetting of Live Chat posts.

Discover more communities by topic on the Reddit mobile apps

Have you ever found yourself enjoying a specific community’s content and you wanted to find similar communities with similar topics?

We recently launched an experience where you can now more easily discover and explore communities within the same topic directly from a subreddit’s homepage on the Reddit mobile apps!

​

Tap the community topic and ranking to explore similar communities on the Reddit mobile apps.

As shown in the image above, some communities will have a relevant topic and their ranking within that topic (determined by recent user activity volume in the community) displayed on the header of the homepage. By tapping on the topic and ranking, you’ll be directed to a list of communities within that same topic group to explore. In the future, we’ll also expand this to show more posts & content about that topic.

If you're a mod, you have the ability to adjust your discoverability settings based on your visibility preferences to not appear in these lists.

Find your new favorite community today!

Sunsetting Live Chat Posts

In an effort to streamline our chat products on Reddit, we have sunset live chat posts by disabling the live chat post setting for new and existing communities. There will be no changes to your existing live chat posts until early 2024. At that time, your existing live chat posts will be converted to standard posts with comments.

Real-time conversations are an important part of the Reddit experience, and we’re continuing to invest in the upgraded chat channels experience.

If you're a mod, you can request the chat channels beta in your community by filling out this brief form.

And that’s a wrap. Have questions about these updates? Share them the comments – we’ll be around for a while to reply. And if you’re missing Brine, worry not – they’ll be back after their holiday break!

​

https://preview.redd.it/tfc07hy97i4c1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=6b6320ffb64376da04daa07907ca8483bbe76f9a

Another year filled with Community Funds projects has gone by and we’re excited to share a recap. Community Funds is a unique Reddit program that provides funding to bring your ideas and passions to life….and in 2023, communities created some truly one-of-a-kind experiences.

Community Funds in 2023 by the Numbers:

• 77 applications received
• 13 community projects funded (and more being considered!)
• $102K in funding disbursed
• 22 million+ redditors represented in these funded communities
• More than 3 countries represented across these initiatives, including the United States, Canada, and Scotland

Giving Back

2023 was filled with community-led fundraisers that benefited from donation matching with Community Funds.

• r/dankchristianmemes raised $25,586 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• r/eurovision worked with Jamala, winner of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, to raise $2,959 for the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal
• r/vancouver celebrated reaching 500k subscribers with a fundraiser for the Vancouver Food Bank, raising over $48,500 CAD
• r/alberta received matching funds for their 2022 fundraiser for food banks across Canada and raised over $54,000 CAD
• r/NBA is celebrating their 15th cakeday with a ticket contest for an NBA All Star Saturday night, a meetup during All Star Weekend, and a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America

Game On

Who doesn’t love some fun competition? r/fortnitebr kicked off a series of game-inspired contests and giveaways with their community. Stay tuned for the next one! r/ClashofClans recently ran an in-game tournament with over 600 participants. r/scotland organized a photography contest in their community and winners received tickets to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. r/constructedadventures worked with puzzle makers from their community to create virtual and IRL puzzle hunts. r/kpop celebrated the winners of their Queendom tournament by gifting them albums from participating bands.

Coming Together

Communities have also suggested some very creative ways to come together using Community Funds. With new equipment and a fun guest lineup, r/teenagers is getting ready to record a series of insightful and entertaining podcast episodes with special guests. r/brasil read O Clube dos Jardineiros de Fumaça together and hosted an AMA with author, Carol Bensimon. And r/snackexchange connected over their passion for food and other cultures with delicious snack exchanges from across the globe.

Applying for Community Funds

Does your community have a project you’ve been considering, but you could use a bit more support to get it going? Here’s how we can help you get started with Community Funds:

• We host weekly office hours where you can drop in, ask questions, and brainstorm ideas with our team.
• Do you have an idea for a project involving climate change or the environment? We want to hear from you! Share your idea with us here or submit an application. Fundraiser matching projects involving causes focused on environmental impact are eligible for up to $25,000 in fundraiser matching.
• We recently made the process for receiving funds simpler for approved applicants. Rather than direct deposit, Funds recipients now receive a virtual MasterCard to utilize the funds.
• Please keep in mind that any applications submitted from now until the end of 2023 will be considered for funding starting in 2024.

We hope you’ll find inspiration in these incredible projects and if you’ve got a Community Funds idea on your mind, share it with us in the comments!

Hello and welcome back to our Little (monthly) Shop of Horrors!

The spooky month is now behind us. The Gremlins are wrangled, the door to the Twilight Zone has been firmly sealed, and we’re all Beetlejuiced out. Last month even contained the spookiest of all days– an October Friday the 13th!

Let’s go over all the Black Cauldrons and Dark Crystals that could be found on Reddit in the month of October…just In Case You Missed It.

Old habits Die Hard, and our intro themes are no different! Think you can guess this month’s intro theme? Let us know in the comments!

📈TRENDING COMMUNITIES

/r/YTVretro

A community for over 12 years, /r/YTVretro is almost old enough to be retro in its own right! This is your go-to space to share in the nostalgia of shows and programming blocks featured on YTV. Are you having an Art Attack? Sit down on your Big Comfy Couch and share your memories of Static Shock over on /r/YTVretro!

/r/Toads

A positively hopping community for sharing pictures of toads, toads, and toads! Found a toad friend on a hike? Have some toady fan art? Someone hop onto your back porch? Want to share adorable behavior of your pet toad? /r/Toads is just the place you’re looking for. Check out this absurdly photogenic porch toad courtesy of /u/reganmcneal!

https://preview.redd.it/6hoilkuilj0c1.png?width=320&format=png&auto=webp&s=9d5a99f0af5f3c44264d7c67ca0ca66974aa6bd7

/r/AlanWake

Warriors, Torchbearers, come redeem our dreams! Whether you’re an old fan returning from 2010s Alan Wake, a new fan looking for Alan Wake 2 content, or you just really like the Old Gods of Asgard, /r/AlanWake is the place to share all your American Nightmares! Is this GOTY material? Shine a light upon this night of otherworldly fiends over at /r/AlanWake!

/r/Renters

If you’re renting or looking to rent, /r/Renters has your back. It’s a community dedicated to helping fellow redditors understand the rights and responsibilities of tenants and for those seeking general advice from renting redditors that have gone through similar situations. Looking for an informative space? This one can live rent free on your feed!

/r/GoingToSpain

Una comunidad bilingüe! That is to say, this is a bilingual community where you can ask your questions about moving to Spain– from visas to vacations! Does the rain in Spain stay mainly on the plain? And if it doesn’t…what do you do? What should I see on my honeymoon? What should I know before I move? The answers to all this and more can be found in /r/GoingToSpain!

/r/whatisthisbone

Throw us a bone, then let the crack team of experts (and, uh, everyone else) at /r/whatisthisbone identify it! This community is dedicated to having fun attempting to ID bones that other redditors find. Check out this multi-subreddit thread sparked when a squirrel brought a bone onto a redditor’s porch!

Image by /u/Bitemarkz…the most relevant username.

For the curious (and the lazy), >!it’s probably from a turkey!<…but we’ll keep this spoilered just in case you want to go down this rabbit, er, squirrel hole by yourself. Another spooky season mystery solved!

/r/ExplainTheJoke

And then I said, “Look at that S car go!” Get it? No? There’s a subreddit for that! If your friend sends you a meme you don’t quite get, you heard a one-liner from a comedian that doesn’t click, the humor has a generational gap, or if everyone’s laughing and at this point, you’re too afraid to ask, /r/ExplainTheJoke is in your corner. Stop by and share in the confusion!

https://preview.redd.it/t6raqzeslj0c1.png?width=828&format=png&auto=webp&s=eb33cc1ab9091bc0aee4cef627311c4b8eb72396

Don’t get it? Get it here! Maybe they can help me with what all these vertical lines I keep seeing mean…I'm at a loss.

/r/CampingandHiking

/r/CampingandHiking is a community all about discussing gear, trip reports, trail recommendations, and the celebration of hiking and camping as a community. They host weekly “Ask beginner questions” megathreads for redditors new to the outdoors, so don’t be shy!

Stunning shot of Lion’s Head, Dolly Sods by /u/Tjohn184

Stop by and start your backcountry wilderness adventure today!

🗞 REDDIT, INC. HAPPENINGS

We announced even more Search updates in our increasingly inaccurately named “trilogy.” (We’re running out of Star Wars movies.) In Search Episode IX, we launched screen-reader functionality improvements with search results, simplified the search results page, and a whole lot more. A little later we announced changes with in-app text sizes on iOS, improvements to the Android comments page, and the launch of a new Beta Program!

Meanwhile, in /r/CommunityFunds we sent out an open call for environmental impact project applications! Are you hosting an environmentally-conscious fundraiser, community clean-up, or other collaborative activity that benefits the environment? Review our program requirements and submit your application for up to $25,000 in fundraiser matching or $50,000 in project funding!

Still not convinced by the power of Community Funds? Schedule some office hours with the Community Funds team and check out our collaboration with /r/NBA, sporting All-Star Saturday ticket contests, a community meet-up, and a fundraiser supporting the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Now that’s a cakeday, and /r/Vancouver is making waves too! They just reached 500,000 subscribers and are celebrating with their own Fundraiser for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.

💙 ADMIN’S PICK

And of course, this month’s Admin’s Pick is this once-in-a-lifetime throw in a post by /u/Two_Inches_Of_Fun. There’s something about fog horns and steam whistles that really punctuates this kind of achievement. I don’t know which is more impressive, the artful throw or the incredible catch. There’s a world where I try to fit a “recip-boat-cation” joke, but that world isn’t this one.

That’s a wrap for today, folks.

What’s a community you recently discovered and want others to know about? Let us know in the comments.

Happy Monday, y’all!

Another month has passed, which means it’s time for Changelog. Keep reading to learn about the latest changes on Reddit, including new chat channels features, an easier way to follow conversations, and improvements to reddit.com on mobile and desktop.

Chat channels updates: pinned messages, threading, and typing indicators!

Speaking of chat channels, we’ve launched some new features and mod tools in the past couple of months that we are excited to share with you.

As a mod, you can now pin your message to the top of a chat channel. Many of our communities are using pinned messages to welcome members, share rules, keep conversations on topic, or highlight something funny/interesting in the chat.

Example of a pinned message and conversation thread in a chat channel

As a user, you can now have threads or side conversations in a chat channel. Simply tap on the message you’d like to respond to and select ‘reply.’ Other people will be able to see the thread and respond to the message as well.

Lastly, we’ve added typing indicators to the experience so that you’ll be able to visually see other redditors typing in the channel.

If you're a mod, you can request the chat channels beta in your community by filling out this brief form.

Comment Spotlights on iOS and Android

Conversations on Reddit are now easier to follow, thanks to Comment Spotlights. Comment Spotlights give you additional context when you click on the overflow menu on a comment by highlighting the comment in focus and also providing a preview of a comment’s direct parent if it’s a reply.

Comment Spotlights are also available when clicking on the mod shield to improve the moderation experience on the post and comments page.

User and Mod Comment Spotlights

Updates to reddit.com

We’ve started to allow a small number of redditors to access the improved logged-in desktop and mobile web experience. This updated web experience loads significantly faster and will be similar to the recently updated logged-out web experience.

We’ll be continuously working on making progress over the next few months and will work to expand these improvements to moderators as well. We plan on sharing mod-specific updates on this in r/modnews soon.

If you’re a user (non-mod) and interested in getting early access to the improved web experience please let us know here. If selected, we’ll reach out via DM.

Screen reader improvements on mobile for better accessibility

In case you missed it, last week we announced the accessibility updates made on 14 core surfaces to improve the experience of mobile users who engage and navigate content on Reddit with VoiceOver (iOS) and TalkBack (Android).

That’s all for today, folks. Have questions about these updates? Holler in the comments – we’ll stick around for a bit to reply.

Hi all,

We’ve made improvements to focus order and added accessible labels, roles, and states to the following areas on iOS and Android:

User Surfaces

• Community Page
• Create Post
• Home and Popular Feeds
• Navigation (community navigation menu, profile drawer, and bottom tab bar)
• Post Detail Page (NB: Improving the experience for consuming a text post is at the top of our list)
• Profile
• Sign In
• Settings
• Search - Posts and Comments tab
• Video Player

Mod Surfaces

• Inline Moderation
• Mod Mail
• Mod Tools (General, Content & Regulation, and User Management sections)
• Mod Queue

Why is this important?

These updates make Reddit easier to use for people with visual impairments who use screen readers. A screen reader is an assistive technology that allows visually impaired users to access and interact with digital content by converting information displayed on a screen into speech or braille. iOS and Android screen readers are Text-To-Speech engines that allow users to navigate via on-screen gestures and hear content and actions over speakers or through headphones.

How can I stay updated?

Going forward, we’ll share accessibility updates in the recurring product updates we post here in r/reddit so you can track progress.

How can I submit accessibility-related feature requests or report an issue?

Submit feedback directly here so the Reddit team can review and prioritize. Like with all products, features are constantly evolving, and your submissions help us continue to work toward screen reader compatibility.

How can I get more involved?

Apply here to join Reddit’s Accessibility feedback group.

Thank you to the redditors and moderators who continue to generously share feedback – your input has been invaluable in accelerating this work and making Reddit more accessible for everyone. We remain committed to working closely with you and the broader disability community to ensure that these efforts continue to be meaningful.

We'll be around for a bit to answer any questions you have about the updates.

P.S. Looking for previous updates on Reddit’s accessibility improvements? Pop over to this post (and r/modnews posts 1, 2, and 3) for the rundown.

Ahoy there, Reddit!

It’s once again time to recap the monthly happenings on Reddit. This time we’re looking back at the month of September. Let’s dive in!

📈TRENDING COMMUNITIES

/r/StarfieldShips

A subreddit dedicated to the showcasing, discussion, and appreciation of ship-building in Starfield! Have you made a Scorpion tank from Halo? An A-Wing? R-Wing? Arwing? How about a scale model of XCOM2’s Avenger or a design of your own creation?

Original post by /u/ViperMaclidis; design “Big Boi Snack”

We weren’t kidding about that Scorpion, either! If you’re an expert amateur shipwright or just want to share your comfy small ship model, we’ll want to see it in /r/StarfieldShips. Also, check out their weekly build challenges!

/r/Purrrfect

A community for posting pics of cats being purrrfect! Increase your daily dose of cat with this subreddit dedicated to paying the cat tax. Share your purrrfect pics with this growing community, like this one of Leota the cat making this house a home.

Leota the cat, OP /u/hopping_hessian

/r/PetPeeves

You know what really grinds my gears? When someone uses a decade-old meme reference to start an anecdote. Welcome to /r/PetPeeves, home of all the little annoyances and pesky things that aggravate us. If you have strong opinions about which way the toilet paper roll should fall or the correct order of milk and tea (this author strategically takes no sides), /r/PetPeeves might be the place for you.

/r/Mushrooms

A subreddit all about mushroom identification and celebration! /r/Mushrooms is your space for all backyard enthusiasts and amateur photographers of the mushroomy persuasion. Check out all the new fall mushroom pics, like this one by community member /u/dancegavind. Stop by and share your own!

OP /u/dancegavind

/r/Writing

A text-based community about the writing craft! Work out your writer’s block, ask questions about your writing, and other such questions about the literary world. Come learn how to “show not tell” and the worst ways to start a story. /r/Writing hosts daily discussion threads and weekly critique threads, for those who like to get more hands-on. Come share your thoughts and keep an eye out for any subtle Canadians!

/r/Painting

/r/Painting functions like an artist cooperative gallery– it’s a space for traditional painters to share their work with fellow artists! Artists are strongly encouraged to interact with their fellow redditors to discuss concept, process, and technique. Share your own original work or check out weekly discussion threads for general questions and off-topic discussion.

Original work by /u/CaterinaWatercolors

/r/Castiron

The space to celebrate your new, used, and restored cast-iron skillet. Come share your cast-iron maintenance tips, restoration projects, or what you’re having for lunch as it cooks in your titular tool of choice. All this and maybe even an answer to the age-old “How do you season a cast-iron skillet?” and more in this iron-cast subreddit!

/r/SlowNewsDay

Our top story tonight: man finds missing glasses on own head. More at 11. Have you ever read a news story like this and thought, “wow, slow slow day today?” /r/SlowNewsDay is your one-stop shop for all the hot stories that wouldn’t make it to print on any other day. Found a nothingburger of a story? Share it here!

🗞 REDDIT HAPPENINGS

We kicked off September by launching a whole new look for our Help Center. Brand new look, same familiar help. The moderators among us may notice the Mod Help Center now lives side-by-side with the User Help Center– you can access both from the Help Center’s home page.

In the same post, we announced native post translation on Android/iOS and logged-out web! This new feature supports eight translation options detailed in our announcement post; we’re also working on expanding this to comments.

September also marked the turning of a new leaf– gold leaves, that is! We announced the return of an updated Reddit gold experience that couples with an all-new Reddit Contributor Program. Eligible users who complete the onboarding process to our Contributor Program can earn real money for their fake internet points. How dapper!

Speaking of cool things you can do on Reddit, we shared this spotlight in which /r/analog, powered by Community Funds, produced a photography zine of their community members’ contributions. Check out the full interview and drop by to submit your own Funds application!

And finally, we wrapped up September with an announcement from our Head of Privacy. In that post, we detailed a new setting to opt-out of specific ad categories, changes to ad personalization options, and updates to the descriptions on several ad and privacy-related settings to make them more consistent across platforms. Check out that announcement post for the full details!

💙 ADMIN’S PICK

/r/Denver came together to fill open seats for the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra! This of course wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of /u/OzarkYodeler (categorically one of the best usernames I’ve seen in a while), so special thanks to them for helping bring URL to IRL. And, like any good OP, they continued to deliver the rest of the story with this wrap-up post.

And that’s a wrap for us too, folks!

What’s a community you recently discovered and want others to know about? Let us know in the comments.

Hey y’all, it’s Changelog time. Keep reading for updates on iOS in-app text sizing, Android comments page, and a brand new mobile beta program.

iOS in-app text sizing

Calling all iOS device holders – as of this week your in-app text size will be based on your device settings. Now that your app text size depends on your phone’s settings, you can select your text size from several different options to best fit your reading needs. If you want your text size on Reddit to be different from your OS text size, you can follow these steps:

Open device settings > Tap “Accessibility” > Select “Per-App Settings” > Tap “Add app” and select Reddit > click on Reddit and select “Larger Text”

Voila! You’ve unlocked the ability to change the app text sizes directly from the iOS system settings.

Android comments page updates

Android users, we’ve got an update for you too. The comments page has gotten a bit of a revamp to ensure a consistent experience across pages. Visually, media in posts now have an inset with rounded corners, and the size of the subreddit avatar in the post is smaller to match the size found in post units on the community page. Additionally, the presence information (e.g. # people here, # people typing…) at the bottom of the page now appears in the top navigation bar on scroll, giving you more real estate to read and engage with comments. iOS updates to follow.

Example of updated Android comments page and scrolled header.

Reddit Mobile Beta launch & closing of r/beta

We’ve launched a brand new mobile beta program! If you're interested in joining please take a look at our announcement post and submit the form linked at the bottom of that post to sign up. We’re currently enrolling both Android and iOS users, but we’re capping sign ups to 1,000 users in this initial round. If you aren’t accepted into the program this time around, stay tuned for future opportunities to join.

To make it easier for redditors to more easily find the support they need, we recently archived r/beta (which, over time, strayed away from its original purpose). Learn more about the change and info on how to report bugs here.

That’s it for today! Have questions about these updates? We’ll stick around in the comments for a bit to reply.

TL;DR: Search results on Reddit’s mobile apps are now simpler to browse with the introduction of a Media tab and upgrades to be more screen-reader friendly. Also, reddit.com’s mobile search experience is now easier and faster.

*NEW* MEDIA SEARCH TAB ON MOBILE APPS

You asked for a better experience searching for media and scanning search results; we listened – and here it is!

The following updates are live on Reddit’s Android and iOS apps:

• New Media search tab - You can now browse media search results — videos, GIFs, and images — all on one page. Hot tip – you can also search media within communities! Just click on the search bar within a community page, and the media content matching the search query in that community will appear*.*
• Simpler search results - You told us the search results page on Reddit’s apps is too cluttered. The updated page design makes it simpler to browse and find the relevant content you’re looking for.
• Accessible post & comments search - Posts and Comments search tabs are now screen- reader compatible. Labels, roles/traits, values and states have been added to all elements so more people can discover content and take action. When using a screen reader, you can hear the actions available and the results returned on these tabs. Note: these screen reader updates will also reflect on the Communities, People and Media search tabs soon.

Media search tab on Reddit’s iOS app

EASIER & FASTER SEARCH ON MOBILE WEB

You may have heard of the recent web improvements for logged-out visitors to Reddit. Features have been added to the logged-out search experience on mobile web, making it more consistent with that of reddit.com on desktop and mobile apps.

This includes;

1. distinct tabs for community and comment search results

2. sorting options for comment search results, along with time filters on post search results

3. an updated, more intuitive page design.

Searching reddit.com on mobile is also much faster — like 85% faster – than before. You can now find what you’re looking for, fast.

Finally, on both mobile apps and web, improved spam filters are now in place to ensure high-quality and relevant post results.

Have any feedback on what you want to see next on Reddit search? Let us know in the comments below. And if you have any other search-related questions, check out our FAQs.

P.S. With episode IX comes the end of the Star Wars Skywalker-themed storyline movies. (See recaps of previous episodes here and here). Although we’re out of puns, we will continue to keep you posted on the updates made to Search.

Hey redditors,

I’m u/snoo-tuh, head of Privacy at Reddit, and I’m here to share several changes to Reddit’s privacy, ads, and location settings. We’re updating preference descriptions for clarity, adding the ability to limit ads from specific categories, and consolidating ad preferences. The aim is to simplify our privacy descriptions, improve ad performance, and offer new controls for the types of ads you prefer not to see.

Clearer descriptions of privacy settingsWe’ve updated the descriptions to be more clear and consistent across platforms. Here’s is preview of the new settings:

Note: Settings may look slightly different if you’re visiting them on the native apps.

Note: Settings may look slightly different if you’re visiting them on the native apps.

These changes will roll out over the next few weeks and we’ll follow up here once they are available for everyone. We recommend visiting your Safety & Privacy Settings to check out the updated settings and make sure you’re still happy with what you’ve set up. If you’d like more guidance on how to manage your account security and data privacy, you can also visit our recently updated Privacy & Security section of our Redditor Help Center.

Over the next few weeks, we’re also rolling out several changes to Reddit’s ad preferences and personalization that include removing, adding, and consolidating ad personalization settings:

Consolidating ad partner activity and information preferencesRight now, there are two different ad settings about personalizing ads based on information and activity from Reddit’s partners—“Personalize ads based on activity with our partners” and “Personalize ads based on information from our partners”. We are cleaning this up and combining into one: “Improve ads based on your online activity and information from our partners”.

Adding the ability to opt-out of specific ad categories

We are adding the ability to see fewer ads from specific categories—Alcohol, Dating, Gambling, Pregnancy & Parenting, and Weight Loss—which will live in the Safety & Privacy section of your User Settings. “Fewer” because we’re utilizing a combination of manual tagging and machine learning to classify the ads, which won’t be 100% successful to start. But, we expect our accuracy to improve over time.

Sensitive Advertising Categories

Removing the ability to opt-out of ad personalization based on your Reddit activity, except in select countries.

Reddit requires very little personal information, and we like it that way. Our advertisers instead rely on on-platform activity—what communities you join, leave, upvotes, downvotes, and other signals—to get an idea of what you might be interested in.

The vast majority of redditors will see no change to their ads on Reddit. For users who previously opted out of personalization based on Reddit activity, this change will not result in seeing more ads or sharing on-platform activity with advertisers. It does enable our models to better predict which ad may be most relevant to you.

Consolidated location customization settings

Previously, people could set their preferred location in several ways, depending on where they were on the platform and what they were doing. This has been simplified, so now there’s one place to update your location preferences to help customize your feed and recommendations—from Location Customization in your Account Settings.

Reddit’s commitment to privacy as a right and to transparency are reasons I’m proud to work here. Any time we change the way you control your experience and data on Reddit, we want to be clear on what’s changed.

All of these changes will be rolled out gradually over the next few weeks. If you have questions, you can also learn more by checking out the help article on how to Control the ads you see on Reddit.

Edit to add translations:

1. Dutch: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/16tqihd_nl-nl
2. French - France: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/16tqihd_fr-fr
3. French - Canada: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/16tqihd_fr-ca
4. German: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/16tqihd_de-de
5. Italian: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/16tqihd_it-it
6. Portuguese - Brazil: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/16tqihd_pt-br
7. Portuguese - Portugal: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/16tqihd_pt-pt
8. Spanish - Spain: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/16tqihd_es-es
9. Spanish - Mexico: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/16tqihd_es_mx
10. Swedish: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/16tqihd_sv

​

Gold is back!

Gold is coming back! But like all sequels, it will look a bit different this time around. In a select group of pilot subreddits and over the next few hours, gold will be available to use on the Reddit native app (with web starting in October). If you see a post or comment that you think deserves some extra love, you can now give it gold as a token of your appreciation in one of the pilot subreddits.

To simplify the experience of awarding content that you like, you can now purchase gold directly from the post or comment that you are looking to reward by long pressing the upvote button on the iOS Reddit native app today, on Android over the course of the week, or by hovering over it on web (when it becomes available). From there, a suite of 6 gilded upvotes with varying values will appear, to directly reward the content that you love.

During our pilot launch, we’ll be monitoring things like gold purchases, moderator impact, and user safety. This data will help guide the future rollout of gold to all eligible content. We are also exploring ways to bring the benefits of gold back to the communities themselves.

Caveats: gold is not eligible in NSFW, trauma support, or quarantined subreddits. You will also continue to earn karma on content that is upvoted.

Check out what gold looks like and the communities that are piloting the program below:

​

How to give gold

Pilot Communities:

• r/ask
• r/cats
• r/comics
• r/food
• r/HydroHomies
• r/HyruleEngineering
• r/interestingasfuck
• r/movies
• r/PhotoshopRequest
• r/popculturechat
• r/popheads
• r/teachers

But wait, there’s more!

Evel Knievel once said that “the finest compliment you can pay a man is that his word was as good as gold.” Evel was right. And it’s why we are excited to introduce the Contributor Program!

As we shared, Reddit thrives on community recognition of high quality content. This is how the best memes make their way into the hearts and homes of people on and off of Reddit. The Contributor Program we’re piloting will give eligible users the ability to earn cash based on the karma and gold they’ve earned on qualifying contributions. If you meet designated eligibility criteria and successfully complete our Contributor Program verification process, you’ll receive a new shiny badge on your profile indicating you’re in the program and can earn cash! That’s right, your fake internet points and gold can now make you eligible to earn cash, or dollars in this case (and we mean that literally, as this will only be available in the US to start but will be available internationally at the beginning of 2024).

​

Joining the Contributor Program

Like with all things on Reddit, all monetizable contributions are subject to Reddit’s User Agreement and Content Policy. Reddit will take the same enforcement actions against contributions breaking Reddit’s rules. Here are our new Contributor Terms and Contributor Monetization Policy for the program.

Payments & Personal Information

We are working with Persona for Know Your Customer (KYC) screening and identity verification and Stripe for fraud support and payouts as added layers of protection. Any personal information shared with these third-party services will be stored in their systems. If you or your content is found to be in violation of our terms or policies, your payouts will be withheld and you could be removed from the program entirely. This can happen after a payout as well, and could result in a reduction in any future payments you may be eligible to receive. But for those who continue to be standup Reddit citizens, cue the montage of visions of grandeur and the Scrooge McDuck lifestyle.

Prior to this announcement, the Reddit Mod Council provided feedback that we are implementing as we pilot gold and the Contributor Program. We are closely monitoring newly gilded content, moderator impact, and user safety, and will keep the community updated. For more information, please visit our Help Center for gold, our Help Center for the Contributor Program, or file a Support Ticket through our dedicated system.

In the meantime, check out the FAQs below and test this yourself in a pilot community listed above!

Ahoy there, Reddit!

Communities across Reddit have been busy this summer, from showcasing user creativity to chatting about this year’s hottest movies and video games – which seem to have been released all at once. We’re featuring a few of those trending communities in this post in addition to some other cool cats (both literal and otherwise) that you can find on Reddit…just in case you missed it.

📈TRENDING COMMUNITIES

/r/HyruleEngineering

A collection of Hyrule’s most imaginative engineers. Tired of using the two-fan flier? Want to see the latest mech designs? Did you know your house can fly? If your Tears of the Kingdom creations inspire awe, solve problems, or solicit a giggle, this is the community for you.

https://preview.redd.it/tyk4814kwunb1.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=e9d6d4bb91bbc698056bc56b1216afb2832ebad4

Check out this helicopter design by /u/scalhoun03, and the further iteration improved by the community! Now if only there was a cargo hold for Korok disp…er..purposes.

/r/90s_kid

Do you still remember when 30 was old? (Or the song that popularized that phrase back in the day?) How about the time Randy Travis guest starred on ‘Hey Arnold!’? Have you ever had a sip from one of these things? Grab your moon shoes and let it rip, 90s_kid is celebrating the culture, toys, cartoons, music, and everything else that made growing up in the 90s “All That.” Share your favorite Fannee Doolee (or Green Glass Door) in the comments and Come on down, you’re the next contestant on /r/90s_kid!

/r/Cozygames

A self-described haven for comfy games! What makes a game cozy, you ask? Great question, /r/cozygames has the answer. Have you heard about Dinkum? Rakuen? Check out their mod-hosted cozy game of the week threads to fill your library with a little(wood) more coziness!

https://preview.redd.it/q9yg3a9mwunb1.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=83ef88ecb95419c67dd0662ec0538fb444fa9d0c

/r/BG3Builds

Did you know Eldritch Blast is an evocation cantrip? That means it works with Evocation Wizard’s level 10 passive and you still have two levels to dip Warlock for Agonizing Blast, giving a potential +30 split between 3 beams without gear. If any of that has you reaching for your keyboard, you’ll love BG3Builds– a subreddit dedicated to documenting and theory-crafting character builds in Baldur’s Gate 3. Check out weekly class discussions and get feedback on your almost but not quite perfect build.

/r/TuxedoCats

It wouldn’t be an ICYMI post without the finest cats on Reddit, and this go-round we’re featuring only the finest of the finely-dressed boys. It’s so hard to pick just one to feature here, so here’s /u/EndyTheBanana’s gray tuxedo named Tośko:

https://preview.redd.it/45asqvnnwunb1.png?width=624&format=png&auto=webp&s=cc50e95e43c510e489368025fae8f3e2f742aa5c

Whether it’s a black, white, or gray coat, /r/TuxedoCats is your perfectly purloined proprietor providing your penchant for precious purring proclivity.

/r/Arborists

A community full of professionals and hobbyists within the field of arboriculture. /r/arborists is a space just as much for shop talk as for questions regarding health and the upkeep of trees. Keep your barky friends happy and healthy with the help of this leaf-loving community, like this sage advice on ginkgo tree growth and care by /u/Piovertau!

/r/Foodbutforbabies

It’s food…but for babies! Post what you’re making for your little one, be it processed mac ‘n cheese or organic bento– just the food though, hold the baby! If you need a taste (oh ho ho, we have a little fun here) of what you’ll find, check out this daycare meal prep by /u/flailingbird.

https://preview.redd.it/wjq0f5towunb1.png?width=562&format=png&auto=webp&s=d49c37764ce842f330d39361444eeba33697a96d

The full menu can be found on their original post, and for even more ideas, you can head over to /r/foodbutforbabies!

/r/Whatsthissnake

Do you have a photo of a snake you’d like identified? This is the community for you! /r/whatsthissnake is a space that fosters an understanding of and appreciation for our serpentine friends.

https://preview.redd.it/k8cve0spwunb1.png?width=562&format=png&auto=webp&s=e2ea6b103b9d298b412cba246f59304bf86fc440

Check out this snake found by /u/Glum_Wealth9995, an impressively photogenic Opheodrys vernalis, or Smooth Greensnake. Additional thanks to /u/TheGreenRaccoon07 for the identification! Slither on over to whatsthissnake for more of your snake identification needs!

/r/ScrapMetal

This is a community that revolves around the recycling of scrap metal as a source of income. Anybody can be environmentally friendly by recycling, and they can also make some money along the way. If you have any interesting articles on recycling junk metals, prices, tips, questions etc, feel free to post about it here! –We’re pulling straight from the sidebar for this feature, because I couldn’t say this better myself. If you need help identifying a metal (is it Gold or Aluminum Brass?), want to show off your scrap haul, or aren’t sure how to get started, /r/scrapmetal will get you scrapping in no time.

🗞 REDDIT, INC. HAPPENINGS

Juuuuust at the end of July (it’s close enough!) we announced an improved logged-out web experience, which should provide logged-out users with better performance, search options, and several other quality of life features we discuss in that linked post.

Also just prior to August we announced more in a series of updates to the accessibility of mod tools, specifically in relation to the functionality of screen readers. You can check out parts one and two of our accessibility update posts on the /r/modnews posts linked here.

💙 UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS

• /r/sewing is gearing up for one of the busiest times of year for the crafty community– the lead-in to Halloween. Check out their yearly megathread to get help with costume prep, answer your FAQs, find fabric and patterns, how to turn on a sewing machine, and everything else you need to dress to the nines (hells, that is).
• /r/AskHistorians recently celebrated its twelve-year anniversary! Check out this community for professional answers to historical questions and maybe pop in to meme a little in the celebration thread here! After you’re done, maybe indulge in a little light reading on why Renaissance fairs use turkey legs or why mutton isn’t as popular in the States. Congratulations, /r/AskHistorians!

💙 ADMIN’S PICK

Over the past month, /r/comics experienced an impromptu cascade of self-referential content in which a one-off comic received its own on-Reddit extended universe. The lore got so deep it needed its own metathread to keep track of.

And that does it for this month! Stay tuned for next month’s trending communities and a recap of Reddit-themed news you may have missed.

Cheers!

Greetings, y’all!

The seasons are changing, and so are some things on Reddit – which means… it’s officially Changelog time. Keep reading to learn about the redesigned Help Center, translations for Android/iOS, and more.

Redesigned Help Center

In case you missed it, Reddit’s Help Center got a makeover! When visiting our main homepage, you’ll see two options: Moderator Help Center and Redditor Help Center. The Moderator Help Center caters to information and answers to questions about moderating communities on Reddit. The Redditor Help Center focuses on user support and information about managing your Reddit account and using the platform.

We've combined the Moderator Help Center with the existing Help Center to create a central hub for all of your support resources. All of the Mod Help Center links redirect to their new counterparts, and the articles still live in the same categories and sections. That said, this may be a good time to update any bookmarks you have.

The Contact Us page also got a slight adjustment to better consolidate the additional contact options that may be available. Several existing options are now unified under two new categories: Other reports and Intellectual Property requests.

Translated posts on Android/iOS

¡Ya puedes traducir las publicaciones en Reddit a otros lenguages! For non-Spanish speakers, that means you can now translate Reddit posts to other languages. The post details on iOS, Android, and logged out web can be translated into eight different languages to start (English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, and Swedish). By clicking on the “translate” button at the top of the post, the post will be translated to the language chosen via your user settings.

Translated post from French to English

We’ve also started experimenting with translations to the comments on iOS and Android, so a few of you may notice this experiment too. Soon, your entire conversation experience on Reddit can be multilingual!

¡Hasta luego!

Coins deprecation reminder

As previously mentioned, September 12, 2023 is the last day that coins will be operational on Reddit. Please take some time to use your coins in the upcoming week. Award-giving on old reddit and the mobile desktop experience has already been deprecated.

Cleaning up redirect subdomains

In an effort to clean up subdomains, new.reddit.com will now take logged-out redditors to our new and improved logged-out desktop experience. For logged in users, nothing has changed.

That’s a wrap on Changelog for today. Have questions about these updates? We’ll stick around in the comments for a bit to reply.

TL;DR we’ve made improvements to reddit.com to deliver a more consistent, reliable, and fast web experience for people not logged in. This experience is now available to everyone globally on desktop and mobile web.

Hello all,

I’m u/whizlogic, a product lead at Reddit focused on the performance, stability, and quality of our web platforms, and today I’m sharing an update from our earlier post on improving the web experience. This year we’ve been focused on updating the logged out web experience to make it easier for redditors to connect with relevant communities and conversations.

To set some context: Many of Reddit’s logged out visitors find us from external search engines. These people are often looking for community-verified content on their mobile, tablet or desktop devices. While some people in this group know Reddit and are seeking it out specifically, many others visit Reddit infrequently or are just finding it for the first time.

With these people in mind, we’ve made some changes to the logged out experience:

• Performance: The new logged out web experience is more than twice as fast as our previous web platforms - which means Redditors can get directly to the content they came for – instead of waiting… and waiting for the page to load.
• Search: Redditors can more easily find relevant content with a simpler, consistent, and more intuitive search results page. We’ve simplified the post units and layout to make scanning for relevant results effortless, and completely modernized the mobile experience to prioritize posts.
• Feeds: The feeds all have a similar look and feel and the Popular feed will now include six trending post units (an increase from four slots) at the top of the page on desktop to keep you looped in on what’s happening around the world. The desktop home feed features a sticky sidebar on the right showcasing Reddit’s popular communities. Post units have been refreshed – unused space within and between post units is reduced to highlight the content in your feeds. The size of post titles has increased in size and images and videos will now have an inset within the post for a cleaner looking post unit and less wasted vertical space.
• Comments page: On larger devices the content in the right sidebar has been updated to show related posts which helps folks understand what else they can find on Reddit. The right sidebar also scrolls independently, to ensure redditors don’t lose their place. (On smaller devices (like mobile) you can find the same content under the post.)
• Community page: Just like on the Comments page – the right sidebar has been updated to scroll independently, providing consistent context and access to community info (about, menu, rules, etc.) for users while they browse the feed. Post units within the community feed have been refreshed to match with the home feeds. The community banner has been relocated to the top right of the page so that visitors can easily locate your community’s content. Custom community styling is not available for the logged out experience at this stage. However, we recognize that community styling is an important part of Reddit communities. Mods will have the ability to customize their communities for logged in users.
• Profile: The page has been simplified and refreshed to match the other logged out experiences and an overflow menu has been added to the profile card to organize actions like “send message”, “report” user, and “add to custom feed” in one place.

New desktop web experience

Check out the mobile web pages here.

In terms of what’s next, we’re focusing on modernizing and improving the stability and performance of the logged in experience. As previously mentioned, we’ll continue to partner with the Mod Council to ensure communities can continue expressing their unique identities, and improve the moderation experience.

Howdy, Reddit. We’ve made it all the way to the end of July, which means it’s about time for another Changelog update.

Keep reading to learn more about a new experiment around Official labels, notification checks, and our peer-to-peer helper program.

Testing an Official label

Starting today, we’re beginning early testing of placing a visual indicator on certain profiles to provide proof of authenticity, reduce impersonation, and increase transparency across the platform. This is currently only available to a *very* small (double-digit) number of profiles belonging to organizations with whom we already have existing relationships, and who are interested in engaging with redditors and communities on our platform. These profiles will have an Official label appear next to their username wherever it shows up across Reddit, similar to how Flair appears across a subreddit.

This is how it will look:

\"Official\" label next to username

This label is designed to help mods and users quickly identify these organizations, and allows them to trust that these users are who they say they are (versus impersonators). The label is a visual indicator of an authenticated profile, and it does not unlock any special privileges or protections. This new “Official” label should not be mistaken for our existing “Promoted” label, which continues to be our (only) indicator of a paid ad (i.e. a post that an advertiser has paid for). We’re actively working with a group of moderators to get feedback on this, and as this is an early test, the learnings we gain will inform next steps for this roll-out. We’ll continue to keep you updated.

Automod Notification Checks

Last week, we started rolling out changes to the way our notification systems are architected. Automod will now run before post and comment reply notifications are sent out. This includes both push notifications and email notifications. The change will be fully rolled out in the next few weeks.

This change is designed to improve the user experience on our platform. By running the content checks before notifications are sent out, we can ensure that users don't see content that has been taken down by Automod.

Reddit Helper Rewards Program

Like helping fellow redditors with questions about the platform? In case you didn’t already know, we have a peer-to-peer program that rewards redditors in r/help who help others learn how Reddit works. All comment karma that you earn in r/help will contribute to an overall score, which will place you into different tiers. When reaching new tiers, you’ll receive a new trophy and, depending on the tier, a new user flair. Learn more about the program here. Happy helping!

That’s Changelog for today, folks. Have questions? We’ll be around in the comments for a bit to reply.