The Top 3 Reasons Why Reddit.com is Awesome

You can do just about anything on the web, whether you want to connect with friends and family, watch your favorite TV shows, or just laugh at funny clips on YouTube. Unfortunately, the internet is also vast, complex, and sometimes even confusing. There are so many great things to discover, but how can you find them without bookmarking twenty different websites?

A lot of different websites have tried to turn the dream of a condensed—but still totally awesome—internet into a reality, and one of the best, as well as my personal favorite, is called Reddit.com.

It shows you which posts are worth your time.

Reddit calls itself “the front page of the internet,” and that’s exactly what it is. When you pick up a newspaper, the best, most interesting stories can be found on the front page. If you want to find the best news stories, pictures, videos, or thought-provoking posts on the internet, just head to Reddit! How do they figure out what’s good and what isn’t? Say hello to upvotes and downvotes.

Whenever someone posts something they think is interesting on Reddit, an up arrow, a down arrow, and a point tally appear next to that post. Then, if the Reddit community thinks it’s funny, interesting, or informative, they click the up arrow to give it an upvote. If they think it’s boring, stupid, or simply not worth their time, they click the down arrow to give it a downvote. Posts with a high upvote score are displayed more prominently on the website, and the best of the best show up on the coveted front page. Posts with a lot of downvotes are buried somewhere on subsequent pages, much like irrelevant Google search results.

It has something for everyone.

Most websites will try to do one or two things, tops. They’ll report the news, let users upload and watch videos, or they’re all about social networking. Sites like Facebook branch out a little more—letting you network and play games—but for the most part, a website is a website. It’s not a bunch of websites . . . Unless you’re talking about Reddit.

Not only does Reddit have a front page where you can find the website’s most popular content, it also hosts a myriad of internet forums called subreddits. These forums focus on pretty much anything you can think of. Do you want international news, tips for small business owners, or amazing, free computer wallpapers?  It’s all there! There are literally thousands of subreddits, so there truly is something for everyone! And best of all, upvotes and downvotes still work in subreddits. That means, even in the subreddits, you’ll still be seeing the very best of whatever it is you’re looking for. And that’s awesome!

You can ask movie stars, astronauts, and the President of the United States anything.

One of Reddit’s most popular subreddits is called IAmA which stands for “I am a.” Extraordinary people post in this subreddit, say who they are—“Hi Reddit! I’m a . . .”, and invite all of Reddit to ask them anything. This special kind of Q&A session is called an AMA which stands for “Ask Me Anything,” and believe it or not, it actually lives up to the name! Actor Nick Offerman who plays Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation did an AMA answering serious questions about his career and some silly ones too like “You, Clint Eastwood, and Teddy Roosevelt have a bacon eating contest. Who wins?” Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield did an AMA from the international space station, and President Obama even stopped by once to confirm that the White House’s beer recipe is indeed tasty. He also managed to answer a few questions about his administration’s policies.

To sum it all up, Reddit is a fantastic website. It shows you all kinds of great content while hiding the bad, has communities that address every topic imaginable, and every once in a while, you get to ask famous people questions that they actually answer! So, head on over and check it out! Oh, and if you’re wondering, Nick wins the bacon eating contest . . . but what did you expect? After all, he is Ron Swanson!