Reddit has shared its annual year in review, which includes a range of insights into on-platform trends, user behaviors and broader shifts, which could help in your planning for, or understanding of, the platform moving forward.
And for the first time, Reddit has revealed its daily active user numbers, as opposed to monthly actives. Reddit actually reported this to the media last week, but they’ve officially announced the figure within their annual report today.
Here’s a look at the key, overall usage stats for Reddit in 2020:
- 52 million daily active users – up 44% YoY
- 303.4 million posts – up 52.4% YoY
- 2 billion comments – up 18.6% YoY
- 49.2 billion upvotes – up 53.8% YoY
As with all social platforms, Reddit has seen an increase in activity in 2020, as people sought entertainment options amid the lockdowns. But even so, the increased in post numbers and engagement are impressive.
Reddit has seen a steady rise in usage over time, going from 330 million monthly active users in April 2018 to 430 million in December last year. Reddit hasn’t included an MAU count in this new update, which doesn’t give us a direct comparison, but the platform’s logic for publishing its DAU figure was that it will showcase its performance in line with other platforms, and provide a better baseline as to where Reddit’s placed in broader industry measurement.
For context, Snapchat currently serves 249 million DAU, while Twitter sees 187 mDAU (monetizable daily active users). As such, Reddit is still a way off the big players in daily actives, but its DAU count is up 44% YoY, and further boosting that figure will be a key focus for the platform moving forward.
Aside from overall usage stats, Reddit has also shared insights into the biggest topics of conversation, and community growth across its app.
Here are some of the key updates from Reddit’s annual report:
Most Upvoted Posts of 2020:
- (406k upvotes) I’ve found a few funny memories during lockdown. This is from my 1st tour in 89, backstage in Vegas. (via r/pics)
- (292k upvotes) A short story (via r/memes)
- (272k upvotes) Please make this go viral. I am begging you. Police and National Guard patrolling neighborhood and shooting civilians on their own property. Make America see this, I beg you. [Minneapolis] (via r/publicfreakout)
- (271k upvotes) If this is you: Fu*k you (via r/pics)
- (258k upvotes) “Everybody’s trying to shame us” (via r/publicfreakout)
The top post of the year came from unintentional internet meme-lord, and former pop-star Rick Astley, he of ‘Rick Roll’ fame, who posted this retro image of himself riding a bike. But the post itself isn’t the reason it was so popular – within the post comments, a Redditor managed to successfully Rick Roll Astley, which sent Reddittors into an oroboros-like frenzy, which is what saw the post gain viral traction.
Political and COVID-related discussion also, understandably, saw huge interest – of these top five posts, three relate to the pandemic and/or political movements. Indeed, Reddit also notes that it saw more than 50.2 million mentions of ‘COVID’, ‘COVID-19’ or ‘coronavirus’ across the platform, while there was also a 9972.4% YoY activity increase in r/blacklivesmatter and a 40.8% YoY activity increase in r/politics.
Reddit also saw expanded impacts stemming from the outbreak, with r/unemployment seeing a 48,286% YoY activity increase in activity.
Within this, the key topics of focus in r/unemployment, a community to assist those out of work, were:
- Work search and career workshops
- Online careers
- CARES Act
- Unemployment benefits
- Self-employment
The growth in discussion here not only reflects the difficult situation many have been facing throughout the year, but also the expanded usage of Reddit for a broad range of focus topics. You may have assumed that the platform is mostly focused on memes and jokes, but there are thousands of niche, engaged communities on Reddit, which provide support and assistance in a range of ways.
Ask My Anything sessions with Borat and Bill Gates were the most popular of the year, while key lockdown topics of focus also gained traction:
- 378.8% YoY activity increase in r/sourdough
- 612% YoY activity increase in r/homegym
- 121.7% YoY increase in mentions of “cut my own hair”
- 285.2% YoY activity increase in r/pelotoncycle
- 82.6% YoY activity increase in r/old_recipes
The numbers here further underline the breadth of topics being discussed on the platform, which is important to note for advertisers who may be considering the potential of Reddit for their campaigns.
Indeed, Reddit has also been working to improve its ad offerings, and clean up its platform to maximize market appeal. It updated its rules around hate speech in June, which lead to the banning of thousands of controversial subreddits, while it also launched its ‘Trending Takeover’ ad units and other new promotion options throughout the year.
With millions of active users, within, as noted, highly engaged communities, there is a lot of marketing potential in Reddit. It’s still gaining its footing in this respect, and many ads on the platform are ignored. But for those that can get their targeting and creative right, it could prove to be a handy complement to your broader digital marketing efforts.
You can read Reddit’s full 2020 Year in Review update here.
