Reddit has launched the Reddit Recap 2021, a look back on the last year on one of the world's most popular websites. The Reddit community discussed a lot of what happened in the real and online world in 2021; in some cases, Reddit was the driving force behind global news events.
Let's take a look at the Reddit Recap 2021, which celebrates key moments from Reddit over the past year.
How Has Reddit Changed in 2021?
As detailed on the Reddit blog, in 2021 Reddit continued its worldwide expansion. The company opened new offices in Canada, Australia, and Germany.
Reddit once had a reputation for barely spending anything on marketing. This year, the company apparently blew its entire marketing budget on a five-second Super Bowl ad, one of the most watched televised events in the US.
Reddit also launched a handful of new features. These include Reddit Talk (host live audio conversations), Predictions (bet on events and tournaments), and CryptoSnoos (NFTs featuring the Reddit mascot).
What Was Popular on Reddit in 2021?
That's all well and good, but the important thing about Reddit is its community. The site would be nothing without it. In fact, Reddit has more than 100,000 active subreddits.
In 2021, over 366 million posts were created on Reddit, which represents a 19% increase over the previous year. In those posts, there were over 2.3 billion comments (12% YoY) and 46 billion upvotes (1% YoY).
Suffice it to say, Reddit shows no signs of slowing down. So, what were the most upvoted posts on Reddit in 2021?
- r/wallstreetbets: Times Square right now (431,000 upvotes)
- r/wallstreetbets: UPVOTE so everyone sees we got SUPPORT (322,000 upvotes)
- r/wallstreetbets: GME YOLO update — Jan 28 2021 (286,000 upvotes)
- r/antiwork: Quit my job last night, it was nice to be home to make the kids breakfast and take them to school today! Off to hunt for a new opportunity, wish me luck :) (270,000 upvotes)
- r/nextfuckinglevel: Dodging a cash-in-transit robbery. The man has balls of steel (258,000 upvotes)
It's no surprise that posts on r/wallstreetbets took home all the medals. In 2018, the community had 180,000 members. Now, it has over 11 million.
Earlier this year, a Reddit post about someone investing huge amounts of money in GameStop's stock blew up. Thousands of people followed suit and began investing in GameStop's stock, raising the price of the failing company's shares monumentally.
The story spread like wildfire, covered by news organizations across the globe, as Reddit members held their investments in order to get back at Wall Street. It was an incredible story.
Overall, the most popular topics on Reddit in 2021 were cryptocurrency, gaming, sports, weddings, and health and fitness.
Reddit has been home to crypto communities for over 10 years, but the public interest in crypto and NFTs only continues to grow. In 2021, Reddit saw over 6.6 million mentions of "crypto", so it's only natural that Reddit launched its own NFT feature.
Elsewhere, popular subreddit r/IAmA (where users submit posts for others to ask them anything) continued to hold interesting discussions. While posts from Todd Howard (Bethesda Game Studios) and Bill Gates drew thousands of upvotes, the largest post was the most unusual: I’m a lobster diver who recently survived being inside of a whale. AMA! It just shows that the average person's wild experiences are more important on Reddit than famous faces.
What Does the Future Hold for Reddit?
If you use Reddit, keep your eyes on the site. On December 9, a personalized Reddit wrap-up is coming, showing your highlights from the last year.
While Reddit is popular in places like the UK, Australia, and Germany, it's easy to forget that the majority of the site's audience is within the US. In 2022, we might see Reddit continue its global expansion. One thing is for sure, though: the site will produce plenty of memes.