I’m not ashamed to admit I’m a Redditor. I use Reddit religiously a few times a day, and I’m not quite a lurker as I have commented and even dared to share links. Obviously, I’m not your average expected Redditor, but Reddit has grown beyond the typical beard-neck Internet geek community it is often portrayed as.
I went back to November 26, 2005, one of its first popular days. Aside from the thumbnail previews and the many subreddits, the look is mostly the same. Even the little robot logo is still there. That early incarnation is much cleaner than the current version, but that’s simply because there just wasn’t as much content in 2005. Reddit is way bigger than it was then because the Internet is bigger now. As Reddit likes to claim, it is the “front page of the Internet.”
Since the format is simple, it works on mobile devices, but the log-in box is so far to the right that you have to move the screen around.
Reddit now has a lot of content and relies on a combination of simplicity and variety for its design. It has taken up most of the white space it had before. Links are still ranked on the front page by popularity, but now they can be customized for each individual user based on what subreddits they are subscribed to. At the top, there is a bookmark bar of all the subreddits for easy access to all the various topics.
The thumbnails give an idea of what kind of content to expect, along with the more descriptive titles. The right side has been filled up with options to make posts and ads from within Reddit. Despite its large user base, Reddit, for the most part, keeps away from large outside ads.
While the design of the website may not win any stylistic awards, Reddit’s design succeeds in keeping things simple while presenting as much information as possible. The core of Reddit has always been its content and community, on which it relies heavily.
For whatever reason, Reddit still has yet to create an official app and mobile access can be annoying because the text is so small. However, there are independent apps for Reddit—I use one called Bacon—but the sheer amount of content on Reddit makes it slightly unfavorable to mobile devices.
You must be logged in to post a comment.