0: What is reddit?

1: For much of The Internet reddit is the gateway to everything interesting going on in the

5: world.

5: Checking reddit.com is like reading the daily newspaper except that reddit is

9: - timely - interactive

10: - personalized - participatory

11: - horrifilying absorbing at times

13: ...basically, *good*.

15: The way it works is that people submit links to reddit (blog posts or images or videos)

19: and other people vote those links up or down. It's a simple idea but it makes reddit into

23: a list of the best stuff that people are reading or watching on The Internet right now.

27: The name is a contraction of 'Read It' as in: I already read it on Reddit, which if

31: you spend significant time on the site, is what you'll say to everyone who tries to show

35: you anything. It's a kind of awesome curse.

38: Because there are no editors on reddit you never know what you're going to find but you

41: can bet it's going to be funny or interesting or enranging because 1,000s of other people

45: have already voted that it's something to see.

48: Think of it this way: if Google is where you go to search for things, then reddit is where

51: you go to see the things that people have found.

54: But reddit is not just one list of stuff: reddit is a beautiful fractal with sections,

58: called subreddits.

59: If you just like politics or programming or funny image captions or sports or world news

63: there are subreddits that list only that stuff. And there's going to be a subreddit for your

67: city or country or region.

69: Love a TV show that ended years ago? There's a subreddit where people are still talking

73: about it as though it just aired.

75: Tech have geeks their technology and flag geeks have their vexillology and -- and on

78: the off chance you're interested in something the doesn't yet exist, just press a button

81: and a new subreddit is born.

83: Each subreddit works just like the main page: an updating list of interesting stuff according

87: to the people interested in that stuff.

89: And when a subreddit grows large it can be terrifyingly good at this: for example AWW,

93: a section devoted to adorableness, is a GLOBAL 24-HOUR-A-DAY BATTLE TO FIND THE CUTEST IMAGES

98: EVAR!

99: Turns out if you give people with baby animal photos a place to have their baby animal photos

103: compete the result is the highest density of cuteness human civilization has yet created.

108: But without editors running the site, how does that sorting process work? There's no

112: time to get into the code, but you can think of it like this:

114: Links people sumbit are balloons floating up and down the list. When someone votes up

118: a link it adds a bit of helium and a down votes sucks out little bit of helium. Periodically

122: reddit puts weights on all of the balloons -- giving newer links that show up later a

126: chance to compete against the ones that have been around longer.

129: This method is shockingly good at sorting stuff, be it international politics or pictures

133: of computer setups.

134: Of course, when a website covers the whole of human endeavor things get weird: like subreddits

139: for only photos of birds... with arms or only photos of hitler... with socks and then there

143: are always the other kinds of photos humans like to look at and sometimes collections

147: of horrifying things that cannot be unseen.

151: So yeah, this has taken a turn for the worse. But remember reddit can be weird not because

155: reddit is weird but because humans are weird. And the great thing about reddit is that it

159: changes to suite you: as you join subreddits you like and leave those you don't the main

163: page becomes *yours*: listing all the best stuff from all the subreddits you follow and

167: leaving out stuff from the ones you don't.

169: So reddit is lot like life: it is what you make it.

173: But links are only the tip of the redditberg, because people can discuss the links and this

176: is where the true heart of reddit lies.

179: Most forums on The Internet are hideous, but Reddit ain't your grandma's bulletin board.

182: Just as that baloon sort method finds the best links there's some math that's more complicated

187: (and less explainable) that finds the most interesting comments in a discussion and brings

190: them to the top. And reddit displays comments in a way that encourages back-and-forth discussions.

194: (Unlike some *other* comment systems).

197: This sorting and threading means that the discussion of a link on reddit is always more

200: interesting than the link itself.

202: So there are subreddits that are nothing *but* discussion: such as Change My View for debates

205: or Ask A Scientist where experts answer questions. Or there1s 'IamA' where people say what they

210: are "I am a fireman" or "I am an Escort" or "I am a prison guard" and answer questions

214: from the comments.

215: And because people on reddit are anonymous, discussions are way more interesting and open

219: than if people were forced to use their real names. ::cough:: YouTube & Google+ Integration ::cough::

221:

221: Though, with anonymity you'll find that not everyone's private thoughts exposed are beautiful.

225: And sometimes it can be uncomfortable to see what the faceless group thinks about a topic.

229: But luckily reddit has a way to deal with comments you think are unhelpful. And despite

233: people who act badly it's clear that reddit can only exist because the majority of people,

238: even when anonymous, are good.

240: But this anonymity isn't required, however so you'll also find Actors and Authors, Presidents

244: and prime ministers all on reddit answering questions from the community.

247: And reddit really is a community with it's own culture and history and that increasingly

251: has an effect on the physical world with things like: meeting up in person and raising money

255: for charity and defending the Internet and helping a family be with their sick child

259: and holding the word's largest secret santa and sending teachers the supplies they need.

264: With its rapid-fire democracy and shocking quick reactions, reddit can sometimes makes

268: you feel more like a citizen of the Internet than a citizen of your own country.

272: But in the end it's hard to understand reddit without just jumping in and commenting and

276: voting, which you really should. And once you get the hang of the place, you'll wonder

280: how you ever Internetted before.

284: [After credits]

291: P.S. If you are already a user of reddit and love the site, you should consider buying

306: some reddit gold to support it. I was surprised to learn while making this video that despite

310: its increasing popularity reddit still isn't profitable. So if, like me, you use reddit

315: *all day* it's more than worth a couple bucks a month.