Move over X, Reddit is UK’s real town square

Reddit has well and truly hit the mainstream after years as the geeky outlier. New figures show the website is the fifth most popular social media platform among adults in the UK, overtaking both X and LinkedIn.

Reddit has been steadily growing since its launch in 2005. It is now made up of more than 100,000 active discussion-based forums called subreddits.

According to Ofcom, Reddit had 22.9 million UK users in May this year, a 44 per cent increase year-on-year. Only YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok attracted more visitors.

One reason for Reddit’s growth could be Google’s ever-changing algorithm. In recent years it has shunned news, so links to Reddit posts often top search results instead.

Reddit has spent years trying to de-toxify parts of its website, banning certain subreddits deemed illegal or offensive. It turned a profit for the first time this year.

Google Trends data shows UK searches for “Reddit” are higher than ever.