9781422277300

World-Changing Social Media Companies

Tech 2.0

Reddit ® by John Perritano

World-Changing Social Media Companies

Tech 2.0

Facebook ® Instagram ® Reddit ® Snapchat ® Twitter ® WhatsApp ®

World-Changing Social Media Companies

Tech 2.0

by John Perritano Reddit ®

Mason Crest

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D

Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2019 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-4060-1 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-4063-2 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7730-0

First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Produced by Shoreline Publishing Group LLC Santa Barbara, California Editorial Director: James Buckley Jr. Designer: Patty Kelley www.shorelinepublishing.com Cover photograph by Mimagephotography/Dreamstime.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Perritano, John, author. Title: Reddit / by John Perritano. Description: Broomall, PA : Mason Crest, [2018] | Series: TECH 2.0 : World-Changing Social Media Companies | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018001248| ISBN 9781422240632 (hardback) | ISBN 9781422240601 (series) | ISBN 9781422277300 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Reddit (Firm) | Online social networks. | Computer bulletin boards. | Online chat groups. | Inter- net--Social aspects. Classification: LCC HM743.R447 P47 2018 | DDC 302.30285--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc. gov/2018001248

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CONTENTS

Introduction: A President Goes Online . 6 Chapter 1: The Founding . 14 Chapter 2: Reddit Tech . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Chapter 3: Reddit and Society . 42 Chapter 4: Now and the Future . 54 Find Out More. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Series Glossary of Key Terms. . . . . . . . . 63 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic moments, and much more! Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR

Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

Tech 2.0

Introduction: A President Goes Online

6

I n August 2012, President Barack Obama was in the middle of his second presidential campaign, trying to get his message out at the same time his challenger, Mitt Romney, was poised to accept the Republican Party’s nomination for president. Hordes of journalists from newspapers, websites, television networks, magazines, and other publications crowded into the Tampa Bay Forum for the Republican National Convention. That was when Obama made a surprise visit to Reddit, a social news website, and answered questions posed by the site’s members. At one point, more than 30,000 people visited Reddit’s Ask Me Anything forum, an online gathering place that allowed people to directly interact with the commander-in-chief. “Hey everybody—this is barack,” the president typed, not capitalizing his first name. “Just finished a great rally in Charlottesville, and am looking forward to your questions.” He didn’t have to wait long. Within minutes the questions started pouring in. “I’m a recent law school graduate,” one person wrote. “Despite graduating from a top school, I find myself unemployed with a large student loan debt burden. While I’m sure my immediate prospects will improve in time, it’s dif- ficult to be optimistic about the future knowing my ability to live a productive life . . . is hampered by my debt and the bleak economic outlook for young people . . . What hope can you offer us in your second term?” The president typed a lengthy response, telling the questioner and ev- eryone else following the conversation not to be discouraged. “We are making progress and with your help will make more.”

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Tech 2.0

Others joined in. One person wanted to know the recipe for the beer brewers were mixing inside the White House. “It will be out soon!” the president replied. “I can tell from first-hand expe- rience, it’s tasty.” Others wanted to knowwhat Obama was going to do to keep corporate money out of politics. Another asked how the presi- dent was going to help small businesses. One sports fan want- ed to know who Obama’s all-time favorite basketball player was. “Jordan—I’m a Bulls guy,” the president answered, referring to Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan.

Millions now look to Reddit as a key news source.

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Introduction: A President Goes Online

When the conversation ended, the president urged people to get out and vote. “I want to thank everybody at Reddit for par- ticipating—this is an example of how technology and the inter- net can empower the sorts of conversations that strengthen our democracy over the long run,” he wrote. “By the way, if you want to know what I think about this whole reddit experience—NOT BAD!” Reaching Out I nteracting with Reddit’s users seemed to come second nature to the president, who ultimately beat Romney three months lat- er. In the old days, the only way presidents could reach the public en masse was to go on radio or television, or answer questions directly from reporters, who may or may not put those answers on the nightly news or in the next day’s edition. But Reddit and its Ask Me Anything forum was a way for Obama to make an end run around the media and talk directly with voters. Showing up on Reddit was also a way for the pres- ident to relate to the public and show that he was just like them. It was a smart move and the president could not have picked a better site. Reddit promotes itself as “The Front Page of the internet.” Not only is the site a complex mix of news, social commentary, and links to other websites, but it is also a way for people to communicate on issues that they feel are important. Some of the conversations are cordial, others not so much.

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Tech 2.0

When Obama first ran for president in 2008, he knew the impact the in- ternet and social media sites, such as Reddit, Facebook, and YouTube, could have on the race. By the time of his Reddit appearance in 2012, the president had mastered the technology, posting nearly four times as much content as Romney and, according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, “was active in nearly twice as many platforms.” “In theory, digital technology allows leaders to engage in a new level of ‘conversation’ with voters, transforming campaigning into something more dynamic, more of a dialogue, than it was in the 20th century,” Pew said. Reddit by the Numbers A ccording to the internet social marketing company Ignite, the average Reddit user is male, between the ages of 35 and 44. They make be- tween $25,000 and $50,000 a year. Many have at least some college edu- cation, and most of the people live in the United States. In 2017, more than 542 million

people visited Reddit each month, making it the fourth most visited website in the United States, and the ninth in the world. During the year, 6.89 billion people gave the various posts on the site “upvotes,” and posted 725.85 million com- ments.

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Introduction: A President Goes Online

Redditors R eddit is a superhighway of information, standing out among its competitors by allowing users to decide what stories and photos are important. Reddit allows its member to “upvote” or “downvote” a post, a far more complicated way to express the im- portance of a story or photo than the simple “like” on Facebook. In theory, voting allows the best content to rise to the top of the Reddit site, while the least-important stories fall to the bottom. Unlike Facebook, Reddit isn’t about corralling as many “friends” as possible or posting silly memes about cats. In fact, no one has friends on Reddit, although you can “follow” a par- ticular user and their posts. At its heart, the site is a high-tech version of the public square, where people can air popular—and not-so-popular—views. Reddit is so important to the online community that its members, so-called Redditors, are sometimes spurred to action. For example, in 2013, a picture of a sign on a hospital window went viral on Reddit, sparking an outpouring of love for Hazel Hammersley, a young cancer patient. At that time, Hazel’s fam- ily and friends taped the sign, “Send Pizza to RM 4112” to her daughter’s window. Soon after, Reddit users sent the hospital enough pizza for a very big and well-fed party. “No need to fear!” said the Reddit user who had taken up the cause. “Pizza delivery will be here.” In fact, there were so many pizzas that the hospital had to ask that

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Tech 2.0

people stop sending the treat. As for Hazel’s mother, she used the publicity the photo generated on Reddit to “let people know that not enough research goes into how to treat our kids.” Hazel’s pizza wasn’t the only shining moment Reddit has had. When 23-year-old Jake Villanueva posted that he had ter- minal cancer, Redditors banded together and raised $30,000 so he could take his family on vacation. “I’m new here, so if I’m not doing this right or something—

An early Reddit breakout post called for pizza deliveries to a sick kid.

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Introduction: A President Goes Online

just tell me,” Villanueva wrote in an Ask Me Anything post in June 2012. A few weeks before, he said, doctors told him a rare form of cancer was attacking his kidneys. “I have been on chemo, which is no longer working and the cancer continues to spread,” he wrote. “This one doesn’t have a survival rate . . . it is likely that I will not see my 24th birthday.” People were so touched by his confession and courage, that by the time he went to bed, Villanueva’s thread—a chain of posts and comments—jumped to the top of the site. In his post, Villan- ueva mentioned in passing how he had wanted to take a vacation with his family. That comment caught the eye of Redditor Lindsay Minor, who started an online fundraising campaign. Money poured in, allowing Villanueva to travel from his home in British Columbia, Canada, to six American cities, including Chicago and New York. Villanueva died in 2013. Since then, Reddit has morphed into one of the most pop- ular websites. That’s not exactly what a couple of college kids, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, envisioned when they creat- ed the site in 2005. All they wanted to do was order lunch.

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1 The Founding

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