Reddit wants to use its power to create its own millionaire by convincing one million Redditors to each donate a dollar to a randomly selected user.

The idea actually started some eight months ago, when a Redditor posted the musing on the Reddit forum "ShowerThoughts," which touts itself as a "subreddit for you to share all those thoughts, ideas, or philosophical questions that race through your head when in the shower."

Since then, a new subreddit called "MillionaireMakers" was created to rally others around the idea, and there have been eight previous attempts to achieve the crowdfunding feat.





None of the past attempts have been successful, however, with the selected winners only receiving about $11,400 at its peak, and the lowest payout only about $1,842 -- offering a fascinating look at both the subreddit's actual reach and the vastly varying rates of people who actually follow through and donate a dollar to the winner.





So how's it work?

On the third Friday of every month, the subreddit will open the drawing to anyone who signs in to a Reddit account that has existed for more than 30 days, and one that contains a history of activity. This is to ensure people aren't creating multiple accounts to increase their chances of winning.

Once you sign in, you can then post a new comment -- don't reply to an existing comment -- which acts as your official entry into the experiment, and represents your willingness to donate a dollar to the winner.

The winner is selected randomly after the contest has been open for 24 hours, and then everyone is supposed to donate a dollar to the winning Redditor. The subreddit also offers a handy string of text you can add to your comment entry which will cause a Reddit bot to send you a direct message as a reminder to donate once the experiment comes to a close.

Payments are handled by using a bitcoin wallet or PayPal account.

"Remember, this is about generosity, about making history, and about coming together to make someone's life better," the MillionaireMakers experiment reads. "So take 3 minutes to donate a bit to the winner, whether you're well off and want to donate a few bucks, or going through tough times and can only donate a few cents. Every cent counts."

If you want to comment in this month's experiment for your own chance to win (you have less than four hours left at the time of writing this article), head on over to /r/millionairemakers now and sign in.