Reddit turns 20: Its incredible journey from scrappy startup to ‘the heart of the internet’

In 2005, if you were into social networks focused on links, you probably used Digg or Slashdot. However, two guys, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, recent graduates from the University of Virginia, wanted to create a hub where users could find, share, and discuss the internet’s most interesting content. Little did they know where this idea would take them.

The origins of Reddit

After all, their concept was nothing new. Still, after Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, the startup accelerator and seed capital firm, had shot down their first idea — a mobile food-ordering app — they pitched what would become Reddit to Graham, and he gave it his blessing. 

Drawing inspiration from sites like Delicious, a now-defunct social bookmarking service, and Slashdot, Huffman and Ohanian envisioned Reddit as a platform that would combine the best aspects of both: a place for sharing timely, ephemeral news and fostering vibrant community discussions of not just technology, but any topic users cared about.

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Their guiding mission was to build “the front page of the internet,” a simple, user-driven site where anyone could submit content, and the community, not algorithms or editors, would decide what was most important through voting and discussion. They deliberately prioritized user participation and conversation over flashy features or heavy editorial control.

What set Reddit apart from its early rivals was its framework. Instead of one large all-in-one interface, the site borrowed the idea from pre-internet online networks, such as CompuServe, of smaller sub-networks devoted to a particular topic. These user-created communities, “subreddits,” quickly set it apart from other social platforms. As Laurence Sangarde-Brown, co-founder of TechTree, wrote: “This design allows users to delve into focused discussions, ask questions, and exchange ideas on a scale unmatched by other platforms.”

That approach was not enough, though, to kick-start Reddit. The founders had to “fake it until they made it.” They seeded the site with fake accounts to make it appear more active. Their efforts paid off, as real users soon flocked to the platform.

Another crucial early change was when Reddit merged with Aaron Swartz’s Infogami and introduced commenting. This move was vital for laying the groundwork for the site’s interactive, community-driven experience.

Reddit’s early rivals

Launched in 2004, Digg was Reddit’s most direct competitor in the early years. Both platforms allowed users to submit and vote on content, but Digg initially dominated in popularity, peaking at 40 million monthly users. Digg’s upvote (“Digg”) and downvote (“Bury”) system would inspire Reddit’s voting mechanics. 

In the early days, users of both platforms were obsessed with their rivalry. That competition ended abruptly in 2010. First, Digg was involved in a scandal when it was revealed that the so-called Digg Patriots were engaged in a widespread censorship campaign against liberals. The fix for this issue was Digg’s controversial redesign, which led to a new voting system that users felt removed their power. This shift led to a mass user exodus, many of whom migrated to Reddit. By 2012, Digg was sold at a knock-down price. Digg has recently attempted to recreate itself. It’s too early to say if anything will come from this move.  

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At the same time, Slashdot was starting its long, slow decline. Reddit provided a more dynamic and interactive way to share and discuss news. In particular, many users found that Slashdot, which still uses an old-school message board format, felt outdated and less engaging for new and existing users. In addition, many former users felt that Slashdot’s managers were guilty of overzealous moderation, including frequent comment deletions and bans. So, as Sumit Kumar, a digital marketing expert, recently suggested on LinkedIn, “Slashdot still limps along today, but it is a shell of its former self.” He’s right. 

Growth, controversy, and community

Reddit’s journey has been marked by explosive growth and periodic controversy. Just 16 months after launching, Reddit was acquired by Condé Nast for an estimated $10–20m. At the time, while the acquisition brought new resources, it also brought challenges, as Reddit struggled to maintain its distinct identity within a large media company.

Then, in 2008, Reddit introduced subreddits. This was the move, I believe, that set Reddit apart. By making it easy for users to create focused communities around everything from science and technology to memes and activism to porn and games, Reddit’s popularity started to blow up. 

While early Reddit monthly active users (MAUs) data is hard to find, it appears that at the end of 2006, the site could boast only 700,000 MAUs. However, with subreddits in place, Reddit had jumped to 10 million MAUs by 2010. As of January 2025, Reddit is estimated to have over 1.1 billion MAUs. Not bad, eh?

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This success didn’t come easily, especially in the early days. As Reddit’s popularity grew, its infrastructure struggled to keep up. Frequent outages and slow load times frustrated early users and threatened the site’s reputation. These reliability issues forced Reddit to invest in better infrastructure and to optimize its codebase, including a pivotal code rewrite from Common Lisp to Python for simplicity and performance. That’s right. When Reddit started, it was written in the original AI language: Lisp. Now you know. 

By 2007, Reddit’s influence began to expand beyond the internet. In a Greenpeace contest to name a humpback whale, Reddit users rallied behind the quirky name “Mr. Splashy Pants.” Their coordinated voting demonstrated the power of online communities to influence real-world outcomes, leading Greenpeace to embrace the name and marking an early example of Reddit’s collective impact. At last report, Mr. Splashy Pants is alive and well, swimming somewhere south of New Zealand. 

Another boost to Reddit’s growth came when it introduced Ask Me Anything (AKA) forums. As the name suggests, these online forums are where ordinary users can ask well-known people questions. The forum that put Reddit on the map was when President Barack Obama’s AMA session appeared in August 2012. It was a watershed moment. While the influx of users crashed the site’s servers, it was still successful enough to draw global media attention and cement the AMA format as a staple for celebrities, politicians, and public figures. 

However, it hasn’t all been sunshine. Reddit has faced criticism for hosting controversial content and struggling with moderation. For example, Reddit had hosted hate subreddits for almost a decade. Finally, in 2015, Reddit began banning hate-based subreddits, such as FatPeopleHate. In 2017, the site started purging Nazi, white supremacist, and other hate groups. 

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Over the years, Reddit has been a launchpad for viral memes, grassroots activism, and even financial market upheaval. The most notable event was the GameStop short squeeze in 2021, which had been orchestrated by r/WallStreetBets users. Today, Reddit groups are still influential in the stock and cryptocurrency markets, but not nearly as much as they once were. 

Reddit grows up

For the longest time, while Reddit, the site, was wildly popular, it faced a fundamental problem: a lack of a business model. After Huffman’s return as CEO in 2015, the company started focusing on profitability. To make this happen, Reddit introduced advertising, premium memberships, and a major redesign in 2018. 

In a recent Business Insider interview, Huffman explained: “Another big change for Reddit was we weren’t running as a business. We were really idealistic, and I think in many ways the idealism has been very good, but we were also idealistic about not being a business, which is not a great way to run a sustainable business.” Besides, Huffman added: “Wrapped up in some of that idealism was also, like, not working very hard.” 

Still, Reddit depends on that idealism to this very day. Even now, Reddit doesn’t pay the unpaid moderators who keep the site running daily.

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On their backs, as of March 2024, Reddit went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker RDDT, with its stock surging by up to 70% on its first trading day and continuing to climb in the following months. 

As of May 2025, Reddit’s valuation is $28bn, with reported revenues up 61% year-over-year. That said, the company is not profitable even now. But in a stock market that values growth over profit, the issue hasn’t hurt the business any more than it does OpenAI. 

A platform that shapes the internet

Reddit’s impact is felt far beyond its site. With over 52 million daily active users and over 100,000 active communities, Reddit has become a primary source of news, entertainment, and advice. The site’s new tag line is: “The heart of the internet.” Maybe it is. Today, Reddit’s influence extends to pop culture, financial markets, and public health, as users frequently turn to the site for real-time information and community support. 

However, I prefer to say Reddit is living up to its classic tagline and is the internet’s front door. By Similarweb’s count, Reddit is the ninth most popular site in the world. 

Looking forward

As Reddit enters its third decade, it faces new challenges and opportunities. The platform continues to grapple with moderation and data privacy, and the balance between user autonomy and business imperatives. 

Like almost every other business, Reddit has been adopting AI tools. For instance, Reddit has rolled out advanced AI-driven moderation features to help community moderators manage content more efficiently. These tools can automatically detect and filter spam, hate speech, and other prohibited content, reducing moderators’ manual workload and improving the overall quality of discussion. 

For users, in December 2024, Reddit began beta testing “Reddit Answers.” This is an AI-powered search tool that summarizes and curates community discussions. This tool is designed to help users find relevant, high-quality answers from across the platform more efficiently. The company is also looking into adding a Reddit-specific search engine.

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At the same time, Reddit is seeking to profit directly from AI. Reddit now sells access to its content to OpenAI and Google. 

So, where does Reddit go from here? We’ll see. Reddit’s legacy is one of transformation: from a scrappy startup to a global hub for conversation, collaboration, and sometimes controversy. As it celebrates 20 years, Reddit remains a testament to how important online communities can be in a world increasingly filled with AI slop. 

Still, Huffman believes Reddit’s true value is coming. In a recent Reddit post, he wrote: “Reddit works because it’s human. It’s one of the few places online where real people share real opinions. That authenticity is what gives Reddit its value. If we lose trust in that, we lose what makes Reddit…Reddit. Our focus is, and always will be, on keeping Reddit a trusted place for human conversation.”

Huffman concluded: “The last 20 years have proven how powerful online communities can be — and as we look ahead, I’m even more excited for what the next 20 will bring.”

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