Subreddit
Also called: sub, community, r/
Definition
A subreddit is a topic-specific community on Reddit, named r/ followed by its name, such as r/SaaS. Users create subreddits, volunteer moderators run them, and each one sets its own rules on top of Reddit's sitewide rules.
A subreddit is one community inside Reddit. Reddit calls them "communities" in most of its interface, but everyone still says subreddit, or just "sub". The URL pattern is reddit.com/r/name, and people write it as r/name.
How subreddits work
Users create subreddits and moderators run them. Moderators write the community's rules, set up AutoModerator, choose which flair exists, and remove posts that break the rules. Reddit's admins step in for sitewide rule violations.
You can join as many as you like. Reddit Help notes that on any given visit your home feed shows posts from around 250 of them and refreshes every 30 minutes, so joining 600 communities does not mean you see 600.
The four community types
| Type | Who can view | Who can post and comment |
|---|---|---|
| Public | Anyone | Anyone with an account |
| Restricted | Anyone (and vote) | Only approved users, depending on settings |
| Private | Approved members only | Approved members only |
| Premium-only | Reddit Premium members | Premium members (old.reddit.com only) |
On top of the type, Reddit's admins can quarantine a community, and a whole community can be marked NSFW.
Where the rules live
Start with the sidebar (the About tab in the app). It holds the rules, the moderator list and links to the wiki. Pinned posts at the top often add more, such as a weekly self-promotion thread. Many subreddits also gate posting with karma requirements and account age requirements whose exact numbers they do not publish.
Why it matters for marketers
The subreddit is the unit that matters. Your audience is not "Reddit"; it is the five to twenty communities where your buyers ask questions. Two subs about the same topic can have opposite rules: one bans any product mention, another has a weekly thread for exactly that.
Before you post anywhere, check three things:
- Do the rules allow what you want to do (links, self-promotion, surveys)?
- Is it active? A sub with 400,000 members and three posts a week is mostly dead.
- Do the people asking questions there match your customer?
Our subreddit finder helps with discovery, and subreddit stats shows activity and rules for a specific community.
Example
A bookkeeping software company finds a large general business subreddit that removes any post mentioning a product, and a smaller accounting subreddit where owners regularly ask "what do you use for invoicing?" The smaller one is the better bet: fewer members, but the right questions, and comments naming tools are normal there.
Common mistakes
- Picking subreddits by member count alone.
- Posting the same content to many subreddits at once. Reddit's spam policy names mass-posting repetitive content directly.
- Skipping the wiki, where the detailed self-promotion rules often sit.
- Assuming a sub's rules today are the same as last year. Mods change them.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find subreddits for my niche?
Search Reddit for your topic and switch the results to Communities, note which subs appear in Google results for your buyers' questions, and check the related-community links in sidebars. A subreddit finder speeds this up.
Can I create my own subreddit for my brand?
Yes, anyone can create one. It works as a support or community hub, but it will not have an audience on day one. Most brands get more from participating in existing communities.
What does r/ mean?
It is the prefix for a subreddit name, taken from the URL reddit.com/r/name. The equivalent for users is u/.