SIU PRSSA Southern Illinois University Public Relations Student Society of America
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What is Reddit and how has it become a beneficial tool in the public relations industry? Reddit was the seventh most visited website in the United States in January 2021, so gaining an understanding of the website and knowing how to benefit from it could play a major role in your level of success as a communications major.
Subreddits are communities focused on a specific topic and can be compared to forums. Subreddits allow users to upvote valuable content and downvote content deemed not as relevant or valuable. If you post content in a subreddit, other users can vote and comment on your content. When content you have posted gets upvoted you gain karma. The more karma you earn the more reputable you become. Despite Reddit sometimes being like the wild west, there are certain rules users must abide by that differ on each subreddit. There are 2.2 million subreddits and counting so there are definitely plenty of communities to become a part of.
Now how can this website be utilized for public relations? Many agencies, businesses, and companies have subreddits that customers or clients subscribe to. If a community on Reddit is stating discrepancies in the certain field you provide a good or service in, the company, business, or agency could post a video specifically intended to deal with the discrepancies brought up on Reddit. Reddit allows publicists, and marketers to gauge what content is the most important to post.
For personal use, Reddit can be a great place for public relations majors to share their content and receive feedback on their work. They also have a place to build karma and attempt to gain followers on other platforms from posting valuable content on Reddit. Many gaming companies like Activision and Rockstar have taken to Reddit and publicized their games as well as give direct information to users about updates, glitches, content, and much more. This is an example of how publicists can relay inside information on Reddit and how an organization can receive direct feedback about their brand. The ability to engage directly with a group of people that all subscribe to the same topic, or idea is a great way for any company, entrepreneur, marketer, publicist, or individual to get connected and stay up to date in the certain field.
Overall, Reddit is a great tool for grouping people together based on similar interests and allowing for free and open communication.
