My Reddit Analogy:

The Joy and Exasperation of Raising a Toddler

Corsair’s Publishing started a subreddit this week called CreativeAnalogies. It was the right thing to do. It will allow us to both display our content in a different channel and allow our followers to publish creative analogies of their own. I hope to see posts from many of you in the near future.

Reddit, for those who have yet to engage with it, is a website that allows users to read and post items of interest. This often takes the form of images and text posts, as blog links (my favorite) are often more constrained. Reddit is a contender in the Age of Feedback (more soon on that). Unlike many other social media enabled sites, reddit allows people to vote posts both up & down.

Posting on reddit is a bit like raising a baby or toddler

Let’s start with the myths. Reddit has a lot of popularity. Google around a bit and you will hear it is the blogger’s dream for traffic. It is such a great site! It is just so cute! So adorable. It is so rewarding. As a father, this sounded far too familiar — but hell, at least there was no childbirth and delivery.

When you first arrive on reddit, only one word can come to mind — ugly! I am guessing that redditors don’t see their baby as being ugly… but everyone else does, trust me. It is messy and covered in … I am not even sure what all of that is. It doesn’t welcome you or even communicate very well. You are left feeling overwhelmed and confused.

Okay, so first time reddithood is overwhelming, maybe that should be expected. So you sign up and start setting up. It is fun to pick out the things you want for your reddit experience and the posts are full of interesting information. Everyone else is so happy to share their experiences.

Soon though, you decide it is time to post. Only, there are all these rules. At first you use the search bar and try to post in the appropriately titled subreddit, but then the reddit starts to cry! The post is removed and reddit isn’t very good at telling you why (so much for the Age of Feedback).

So you refer to the fine print…

effectively what the reams of reddiquette actually are

Reddiquette is the rule book and just like your newborn, it often doesn’t really apply. Every subreddit is different and often changes daily. Seriously, reddits have different rules, on different days, and much depends on how old things are. Worse the redditors that monitor them even have different interpretations of the same words… kids!

Now is gets better…

After a month or so, you can start your own subreddit (assuming you have enough karma and whatever other nonsense was in that fine print). You start to learn the tendencies of your favorite subreddits. And, if you find the right places to post, that mythical traffic finally arrives.

A successful subreddit requires constant attention. There are a few on reddit that once had thousands of subscribers, but neglect and bad parenting have left them chaotic and full of spam. They stand as stark reminders of the commitment it takes to raise a subreddit properly.