Reddit adds user profiles to morph into a real social network

Reddit, long centered around communities, is finally giving face time to the individual users.

Reuters reports that Reddit is joining the ranks of the “big” social media sites like Twitter and Facebook with the addition of user profiles. Redditors will be able to start threads directly on their profile, which they will moderate themselves. Other users can follow the profiles as they would a subreddit.

The first profiles are currently available to three people, one of them being founder Alexis Ohanian. Gizmodo showed off a pic of Ohanian’s profile, which you can see above.

It looks very similar to what you’d find on other social media sites, with a profile pic, a banner image, and a list of recent posts. The only unique thing in the picture is a list of communities the poster is active in (as opposed to ones they just follow, one presumes).

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In reply to a comment on the site asking the motives for the change, admin HideHideHidden says, “We think this will allow some of the best content creators on reddit to stay on reddit and grow.” Reddit has long had strict rules against self-promotion, and until now the only way to post your own content directly was to make a subreddit in your own name.

Reddit hasn’t said if profiles will be available to every user or a select few of these “content creators.” Assuming Ohanian’s profile is the standard, they will be almost a direct mirror of Twitter. If nothing else, it might make communities stronger as the creators can interact directly with fans.