| Acquired by | Condé Nast |
| Date | 10/06 |
| Terms | Cash |
| Website | reddit.com |
| Category | Web |
| Employees | |
| Founded | 6/05 |
| Seed, 6/05 Y Combinator | $100k |
Launched in 2005, Reddit is a social news website that displays news based on your personal preferences and what the community likes. Your preferences are determined based on your history of voting stories up or down.
The company was started by two University of Virginia grads, Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman in the Y Combinator program. Two others, Christopher Slowe and Aaron Swartz, later joined the team.
Conde Nast, owner of Wired and other magazines/websites, acquired Reddit in October of 2006. Reddit competitors include Digg, Netscape and Newsvine.
In February 2008, reddit began experimenting with allowing users to create their own ‘reddits’.
| Website | reddit.com |
| Stage | Live |
| Launch Date | July 31, 2007 |
| Tags | reddit, news, social |
While Reddit is often compared to Digg, the two sites have some key differences. Reddit has a simple interface and little advertising. Many users love this simplicity.
Reddit rankings are based on an absolute vote (+1 for hot, -1 for cold), meaning a story can dance up and down Reddit’s top page instead of being buried out of existence by a few power users. To see what’s on top now, there’s also a “hot” list. This type of voting system also means the front page can be stagnant, to the chagrin of some users, but it has also avoided Digg’s payola scandals. Another big differentiator for Reddit is their recommended article page, which suggests links based on your voting pattern.
