reddit.com/r/movies
Although Reddit sometimes gets a bad rap, it is hard to argue with the fact that, at least in theory, Reddit's thousands of communities do come in handy. No matter what you are interested - no matter how niche, obscure, or bizarre that interest may be - there is a 99% chance that a subreddit exists on which you can nerd out about it with other likeminded people. So say what you will about Reddit, but it is an extremely underappreciated resource of information and community dynamics.
It's a bit of a shame, when you think about it, that Reddit has developed the somewhat off-putting reputation that it has. Essentially, it is a brilliant idea. It is an entirely democratic quasi-social network that thrives on a system of up and downvotes, which creates an intrinsic function of mitigating the infinite slush pile of incorrect, misleading, and subpar content that exists online. By empowering users with the ability to upvote something to the site's self-proclaimed "front page of the internet" or downvoting it, as the kids say on Reddit, into oblivion, at its best Reddit is a powerful tool for curating the best of the best when it comes to online content.
Reddit is a social media platform that specializes in deep dives into various subjects. This makes it an ideal platform for people who love topics like Leonardo DiCaprio. By having a specialized community, any news, rumors, theories, speculations, biographical information, etc. about the actor can be found and added quickly and easily. Additionally, Reddit is great for connecting with like-minded people from around the world anytime of day or day of the year.
So, maybe it's about time we looked past Reddit's reputation once and for all and gave it a chance. It can be a very useful tool, especially for serious film buffs like you and me. If you thought Reddit was impressive for its extremely specific and niche subreddits, you should see how active and entertaining it can be to lurk on some of the more general subreddits, such as r/Movies.
With so many members and so much activity, r/Movies is an avid source of information about Hollywood films and indie films alike. There is never a dull moment when it comes to discussing movies on this community, which is why it is one of the most frequented online sources for news and discussion on film.
History
In 2005, two college roommates, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, conceived of Reddit. After attending a lecture by the famous programmer Paul Graham at the University of Virginia, Huffman and Ohanian spoke with Graham, who was apparently impressed with their drive and knowledge. Graham invited them to apply to his incubator for startups, Y Combinator.
Their initial idea, My Mobile Menu, proved to be unsuccessful. However, during a subsequent brainstorming session, Graham pitched his idea for a site that could serve as "the front page of the internet." Thanks to an initial round of funding provided by Y Combinator, Huffman and Ohanian were able to get to work on what would eventually be Reddit. The site launched in June of 2005.
Shortly thereafter, we expanded and added on additional key players in the running and development of the site, and then sold Reddit to the Conde Nast Media Group (owner of Wired magazine) on October 26th, 2016 for a reported sum of money somewhere between the tunes of $10 million and $20 million.
In 2009, Reddit finally became profitable and was able to grow quickly by introducing advertising. Today, it is one of the most frequented sites on the internet, with a total valuation of $1.8 billion.
Design
Honestly, I found Reddit's design to take some getting used to. When I first visited the site (which was, admittedly, a good decade ago), I did not find it to be the most intuitive interface that I had ever seen. This is partially because the whole concept of Reddit was so unique and novel at the time - the notion of threads then, was still foreign to me. However, I stuck with it and it did not take long at all for Reddit's elegantly logical layout to reveal itself to me.
The three icons on the top of Reddit's home page are going to be your main tools for sorting through the site's content. Reddit offers three different viewing styles- large cards that show images well, classic mode which requires you to click into a post to see more information, and compact mode which more closely resembles a traditional messaging board layout.
The sorting toolbox allows users to choose between the Best posts, Hot posts, New posts, Top posts, and Rising posts. Once this toolbox is decoded, Reddit becomes very user-friendly and customizable (even enjoy dark mode if you prefer). You will also find a dropdown menu that allows for convenient browsing of popular subreddits and those that you visit most frequently.
Content
There are hundreds of thousands of subreddits on Reddit, each with its own fanbase and interests. In order to get the most out of the site, you'll need to join those that interest you. Once you join r/Movies, you'll find that it's an invaluable source of news and discussions about major motion pictures.
Reddit's r/Movies board is highly community-driven and based on the current conversation. Whatever content the Reddit movie buffs are talking about at the moment will be what you see on this board. However, there is a wealth of archived posts to check out when your interests lie elsewhere. The majority of posts, however, are devoted to film news, awards ceremonies, studio news, actor news, discussion threads around new releases and big events, and general discussion and debate around all things related to films.
Mobile and Desktop Experience
Personally, I find that I prefer using the Reddit app on my phone. The app is constantly being improved based on suggestions that users voice on the subreddit devoted specifically to the app. That's how an app should be optimized in my opinion. There are alternative ways to enjoy Reddit too, such as Beam, Glance, Alien Blue, and Nano for Reddit. If you find that you're frustrated with any of the official Reddit apps features, feel free to check out any of these Reddit-compatible apps.
I scroll the official Reddit app on my phone for hours, though, and I do so quite frequently. It's like a never-ending social media feed without the annoyance of people's curated social media identities obscuring the actual content. It helps that Reddit is anonymous. If ever I am bored, I just scroll my personalized Reddit feed for all the latest in all of my favorite topics, either on my phone or on the computer.
Pricing and Plans
Reddit is a free service to use at the basic level. You can use Reddit without paying if you want, but for an enhanced experience you can subscribe to Reddit Premium for $5.99 a month. With Reddit Premium, you get an ad-free Reddit experience, as well as 700 coins each month (and a 1,000 coin sign up gift). Coins can be used to incentivize particularly good posts and comments by awarding them to their authors - just in case someone has something so good to say that a simple upvote does not suffice.
Suggestions that I have for r/Movies
I think that r/Movies is a great resource for all things film news and discussion. I think that the subreddit is well-organized and all of its rules seem fair to me (for instance, no posting about movies that were released prior to 1960?). This is a robust and usually civil subreddit with a ton of activity, and the majority of its users take it seriously (which is refreshing for Reddit). So, all of this is to say that I don't really have any suggestions.
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