Reddit[i] is a
community where registered users, known as redditors, submit content in the
form of text or links that connect to images, videos, news, etc. This content can be up-voted or down-voted by
other redditors and the best voted content will float to the top of the
page. Within the content, redittors can
also comment and these are down-voted or up-voted as well. If your content or comments get up-voted you
get “karma” which is used to tell other users how active you are. There are also subreddits that are
communities created around specific areas of interest.
The name reddit is rumored to come from the fact that
the readers are also the editors. The alternate theory is that it is a play on
words “I read it on reddit.”[ii]
Redditors are mainly nerds. They can be
history, computer, science, or just plain nerd-nerds. This provides for very interesting
interaction that eventually may lead to innovation. While this is not specifically an innovation
community, much innovation has come from it and much more will come out of it
in the future due to the interest of the people, the community feeling, and the
ranking system.
At first, it is very difficult for new members to
participate as they have little karma and credibility. These users are down-voted with almost
anything they post. The way they can get
initiated is by up or down-voting others to get karma. The rules for participation are few: users
may never post personal information and they may not spam.
Reddit is a flat governance, open participation[iii]
type of collaboration. Anyone can
solicit and offer ideas, and no single participant has the authority to decide
what is or isn’t a valid innovation. Users
may ask anything, and replies will be policed by the community in the form of
up-voting. Innovation occurs when you get people from very different
backgrounds to discuss a point. Take for
example the idea for the movie Rome Sweet
Rome[iv] that
came from a thread where historians, veterans, and other nerds were discussing
the possibility of bringing down the entire Roman Empire during the reign of
Augustus. Users argued that this may be
possible with the help of a modern U.S. marine infantry battalion[v], and
is now an idea for a movie. Another innovation
that came out of Reddit is the University of Reddit[vi]
where users with a particular set of skills teach other redditors. One example of such classes is the Game
Concept Art[vii]
class. Other innovations have been the wide introduction of Memes[viii], Generosity
Campaigns[ix], the
many game improvements on Minecraft[x], and
the inception of the “Restoring Truthiness[xi]”
campaign by Stephen Colbert.
This community fosters innovation because it allows
anyone to interact, it’s free, and it has millions of registered users from all
over the world. Users volunteer their
time in order to validate facts, contribute, and curate the content. There are large numbers of solutions and much
variability, but the users themselves up-vote the best solutions to the top of
the page. The biggest challenge is that
users may vote for the best solution while not the most profitable. Everyone
benefits from this community because of the knowledge that is exchanged and the
people that redditors meet from all over the world and all walks of life. This has been so important, that redditors
now hold meet-ups[xii]
and secret santa[xiii]
exchanges to meet their fellow contributors all over the world.
As of now, there is nothing that I would change about
this community. People are happy and
they work for free just to feel part of a community. Ideas may be crazy sometimes, but that doesn’t
mean that they are bad. I would totally
see Rome Sweet Rome even if time
travel doesn’t currently exist. But, maybe the redditors already have a plan for that!
[i]
“Reddit: The Front Page of the Internet”
<http://www.reddit.com>
[ii]
"Frequently Asked
Questions." Reddit.com: Help. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.reddit.com/help/faq>
[iii]
Pisano, Gary P., and
Roberto Verganti. "Which Kind of Collaboration Is Right for You?" Harvard
Business Review (2008). Print.
[iv]
Zakarin, Jordan.
"'Rome Sweet Rome': Reddit Thread Gets A Movie Deal." The
Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Oct. 2011. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/14/rome-sweet-rome-reddit-thread-movie_n_1010758.html>.
[v]
"Could I Destroy
the Entire Roman Empire during the Reign of Augustus If I Traveled Back in Time
with a Modern U.S. Marine Infantry Battalion or MEU?" Reddit. Web.
<http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/k067x/could_i_destroy_the_entire_roman_empire_during/c2giwm4>.
[vi]
"University of
Reddit." University of Reddit. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.
<http://universityofreddit.com/>.
[vii]
"Game Concept
Art." University of Reddit. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.reddit.com/r/gameconceptart/comments/cyyjq/referencesandresources/>.
[viii]
"Internet
Meme." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 Apr.
2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme>.
[ix]
Alcorn, Angela. "5
Cool Things You Should Know About Reddit." Cool Websites, Software and
Internet Tips. Makeuseof, 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-cool-reddit/>.
[x]
"Minecraft." Reddit.
Web. 01 Apr. 2012. <http://www.reddit.com/r/minecraft>.
[xi] "Rally to Restore Sanity And/or Fear." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 01 Apr. 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rally_to_Restore_Sanity_and/or_Fear>.
[xii]
"Global Reddit
Meetup Date." Reddit. Web.
<http://blog.reddit.com/2011/06/global-reddit-meetup-day-will-be-this.html>.
[xiii]
"Secret Santa
2011." The World's Biggest Gift Exchange Platform. Web. 01 Apr.
2012. <http://redditgifts.com/exchanges/secret-santa-2011/>.
