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An urge for human-generated content has helped Reddit to push past TikTok in the UK to become the fourth most visited social media site, largely thanks to Gen Z.
Reddit is enjoying a period of immense growth right now, at least in the UK.
As The Guardian reports, the public forum platform has seen an 88% increase in users and reach across the country, with 60% of citizens now visiting the site while using the internet. This is an increase from one third in 2023, as published by Ofcom.
Reddit is now the sixth most popular organisation of any kind in the UK for users aged between 18 and 24, with 75% of young Gen Zers regularly logging on. This newfound mainstream attention repositions Reddit as a human-led, logistically-helpful website, rather than an anonymous, aggressive space mostly occupied by men.
What’s causing Reddit’s massive growth?
Google’s changes to its algorithm is widely considered to be the primary cause, as discussion forums offering helpful content are now heavily prioritised in search listings.
Couple this with a recent deal between the two companies that allows the platform’s content to be incorporated into Google’s AI model training and its unsurprising that such a big burst in visibility has emerged.
The search engine giant also has a partnership with OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, as it looks to use human data to better optimise its AI offerings.
Interestingly, more than half of all British users are women, with internal company research showing that 71% of females in the UK are interested in skincare, beauty and cosmetics, all of which are popular topics on Reddit. In fact, one in three Reddit users in the UK are now reportedly Gen Z women.
Reddit is also primarily spearheaded by human-generated content. It offers a space for users to ask questions, post information, and provide comments or feedback on different areas of discussion.
This emphasis on peer-to-peer sharing distinguishes the platform as a unique space compared to most other social media sites, as nearly all of them are increasingly pushing for AI-focused content.
As we’ve seen in ChatGPT and other text-based models, AI frequently hallucinates and gets things wrong, making information less reliable or nuanced. Without an actual human being at the helm, it can be hard to get to the crux of an issue, especially when it’s a niche topic that hasn’t been covered extensively online.
