Reddit Reaches 430 Million Monthly Active Users, Looks Back at 2019

Reddit revealed that it reached 430 million monthly active users as of the end of October, up 30% year-over-year. The network of interest communities also said it tallied 199 million posts, 1.7 billion comments and 32 billion upvotes as of the end of October, with monthly comments up 37% compared with 2018 and its monthly view count up 53%. Reddit released its year in review report for 2019, and highlights follow. The most upvoted posts in 2019 were: Given that reddit just took a $150 million investment from a Chinese-censorship powerhouse, I thought it would be nice to post this picture of "Tank Man" at Tienanmen Square before our new glorious overlords decide we cannot post it anymore., via r/pics, 228,000 upvotes I got off the horse by accident right before a cutscene in red dead, via r/gaming, 226,000 People who haven't pooped in 2019 yet, why are you still holding on to last years shit?, via r/askreddit, 221,000 This person sold their VHS player on eBay and got a surprise letter in the mailbox., via r/pics, 215,000 This is Dr Katie Bouman the computer scientist behind the first ever image of a black-hole. She developed the algorithm that turned telescopic data into the historic photo we see today., via r/pics, 215,000 The most upvoted Ask Me Anything sessions of 2019 were: Bill Gates, 110,000 upvotes Cookie Monster, 75,500 Andrew Yang, 69,300 Ex-scientologist Derek Bloch, 68,400 Steven Pruitt, Wikipedian with over 3 million edits, 68,000 Reddit also shared more details on some of its key community verticals: Beauty/style Reddit said 2019 was the year of beauty bloggers, “weddit” planning and skin care for self-care. Subscribers jumped 63% year-over-year in the top 50 beauty communities and 52% in the top 50 style communities. Feuding between beauty bloggers helped drive an 87% year-over-year subscriber leap in r/beautyguruchatter. Many weddit wedding planning communities saw huge year-over-year jumps, including r/weddingsunder10k (109%) and r/bridezillas (852%). And r/skincareaddiction was the most popular beauty community on Reddit in 2019, surpassing 1 million subscribers earlier this year. Food 2019 was the year of a fast-food renaissance, recipe sharing and spirits on Reddit, with the top 50 food communities on the platform seeing a 35% year-over-year climb in subscribers. The Reddit battle of the fried chicken sandwich war was won by r/popeyes, with 390% year-over-year growth activity, compared with 122% for r/ChickFila. Six recipe sharing communities cracked the top 100 food communities for the year, and Redditors washed all of that down with spirits, as r/homebrewing found itself in the top 10, while strong year-over-year gains were posted by r/tequila (99%), r/whiskey (52%), r/vodka (44%), r/bourbon (27%) and r/winemaking (16%). Family/parenting On Reddit, 2019 was the year of expecting parents, baby name inspiration and blended families. The platform saw an 87% year-over-year leap in family and parenting communities, with expecting parents propelling r/babybumps, r/tryingforababy and r/pregnant into the top 10 parenting communities for the year. Parents turned to r/namenerds for baby name inspiration, driving subscribers in that community up 74% this year. And the rise in blended families across the U.S. corresponded with an explosion in the r/blendedfamilies community, with year-over-year activity skyrocketing 501%. Fitness and wellness Keto, fasting and outdoor recreation ruled 2019 on Reddit, with the top 50 fitness and wellness communities seeing a 30% gain in subscribers versus 2018. The No. 2 overall fitness and wellness community on the platform was r/keto, which saw subscribers climb 65% year-over-year. And r/intermittentfasting and r/Fasting each cracked the top 15 for the category, with the latter tallying 99% subscriber growth compared with the previous year. In addition, r/omad—for OMAD (one meal a day), a form of intermittent fasting—saw a 108% year-over-year jump in activity, becoming the third-most-discussed diet trend on the platform. Outdoor recreation communities that posted significant year-over-year subscriber gains included r/trailguides (312%), r/nationalpark (130%) and r/camping (113%). Entertainment Redditors were entertained by Game of Thrones the reality TV boom and hip-hop in 2019, with television communities topped by Game of Thrones-related r/freefolk and r/gameofthrones. Meanwhile, reality TV accounted for seven of the top 10 TV communities: r/bachelor (No. 3), r/rupaulsdragrace (4), r/bigbrother (5), r/90dayfiance (6), r/teenmomogandteenmom2 (7), r/survivor (9) and r/bravorealhousewives (10). On the music side, r/HipHopHeads was the top music community of the year and the No. 5 overall entertainment community, while the top artist community was r/Kanye, and r/Tylerthecreator saw a 209% hike in activity compared with the previous year. Sports Reddit said 2019 was the year of National Basketball Association chatter, soccer allegiances and fantasy leagues. The top 50 sports communities tallied a 34% year-over-year subscriber gain, with r/nba topping the list of sports communities, joined by several others related to the league, including r/torontoraptors, which saw double the activity of r/warriors this year. FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 spurred a 448% year-over-year leap in activity for r/womenssoccer, while on the men’s side, r/reddevils, r/liverpoolfc and r/MLS all cracked the top 25 overall sports communities for the year. Likewise, r/fantasyfootball, r/fantasybaseball and r/fantasypl all made the top 20, and big year-over-year subscriber gains were posted by r/fantasybball (82%), r/fantasycl (74%) and r/fantasybaseball (73%). Current events Climate change, Hong Kong and political scandals rocked Reddit in 2019. The top 50 news communities saw a 17% year-over-year rise in subscribers. Climate change was the fifth-most-discussed news topic for the year. Meanwhile, China was the most-discussed news topic, with news stories about the protests in Hong Kong topping r/worldnews and r/news in terms of shares. Robert Mueller’s hearings were the most-discussed major event on the platform this year, while the current impeachment inquiry placed third. Gaming Battle royales, throwback gaming and Dota 2 were the talk of gamers on Reddit this year, as the top 50 gaming communities saw subscribers go up 42% compared with 2018. It was a big year for battle royales, led by r/fortnitebr, the No. 1 overall game community on the platform. Several throwback games cracked the top 50 gaming communities on Reddit in 2019: r/classicwow (No. 7), r/pokemon (20), r/mortalkombat (24) and r/dnd (30). In addition, with a huge Crash Bandicoot release this year, year-over-year activity on r/crashbandicoot soared 731%. Finally, not only did r/DotA2 finish among the top 15 gaming communities, but Dota 2 players were the most discussed esports figures on the platform this year.