Reddit is increasingly leaning into the idea of community as it pitches itself to marketers.
In the past, the internet's self-styled "front page" developed a reputation as a risky space for brands to attempt to get their messaging out. In some cases, that reputation was well-earned: the Reddit community has been historically hostile to brands that bigfoot their way into topic-specific subreddits without understanding their internal rules or to executives who attempt an "Ask Me Anything" discussion without fully playing ball.
Brands have, as a result, grown somewhat wary of Reddit. In a small May 2019 Digiday poll, 34 percent of the marketers surveyed said they avoid Reddit due to brand safety concerns.
But Reddit has a survey of their own to point to: A YPulse study commissioned by Reddit released earlier this month included the surprising stat that 72 percent of Reddit users, or Redditors, say brands are welcome to join the conversation.