NSFW, AMA, TIL, AITA, TL;DR…
Recognize any of these?
We can thank Reddit for enriching our vocabularies with these abbreviations, and for reminding us that no matter how weird and wonderful our interest is, there’s a community dedicated to it.
Reddit’s vast network of communities, or subreddits, allows its 73 million daily active users to “dive into anything” – and although it can be a bottomless well of information and entertainment, there’s a dark side to Reddit that parents need to be aware of.
What is Reddit?
Launched in 2005, Reddit.com was branded the “front page of the internet” for good reason. Essentially, Reddit is a giant bulletin board of user-generated posts segregated into individual communities.
Reddit users, known as Redditors, engage in discussions below the post where their comment can be upvoted or downvoted – the more upvotes a comment gets, the more prominent it appears in the thread. If a comment or post goes against the community guidelines, it will usually be removed by moderators – users who’ve volunteered to enforce the rules and keep the subreddit on track.
There are over 100,000 subreddits dedicated to news, sports, TV fan theories, cute animals, as well as much more niche topics. To illustrate, a subreddit dedicated solely to pictures of birds with arms (r/birdswitharms) has over 1 million members!
Why do young people like Reddit?
Reddit is the 7th most visited website in the world with a userbase that leans heavily towards the young. In the US, Reddit is most commonly used by 18 to 29-year-olds and almost half (44%) of this section of the population uses the app or website. And under-18s? Our 2023 data report revealed that around 40% of children in the US, Australia, and the UK are active Redditors.
Perhaps one of the biggest attractions of Reddit is the user’s relative anonymity compared with other social media platforms; Redditors rarely use their real names and profile pictures are usually an avatar. In contrast to Instagram and Facebook, the content is the focus, rather than the person posting it.
How old do you have to be to use Reddit?
Reddit’s User Agreement states that no one under 13 is allowed to use or access the platform. However, as no ID/passport is required to prove a user’s birth date, it’s easy for someone younger to lie about their age and sign up.
So, is Reddit safe for kids?
With over 100k subreddits to choose from, children really can dive into anything – from the educational and thought-provoking to the downright seedy and dangerous.
Here are some Reddit red flags that every parent needs to be aware of:
No age verification
Users can sign up without having to verify their age. So even though Reddit has a minimum user age of 13, under-13s can easily create an account and access inappropriate content.
Easy access to mature content – and lots of it!
Subreddits and content labeled as NSFW (not safe/suitable for work) are ubiquitous on Reddit; many would argue it’s one of the things the platform is most famous for. Pornography, violence, and gore imagery would come under the NSFW umbrella, as well as text posts of an adult nature; such as sex, self-harm, and suicide.
To view NSFW content, users need to log in and click a “Yes, I’m over 18” button – but when has that ever deterred anyone?
Hate speech
Although Reddit vows to ban users who incite violence or promote hate based on identity; racist, misogynistic, homophobic, and other examples of hate speech can be found throughout the platform.
The risk of being exposed to hate speech depends on the nature and size of the subreddit – with fewer members and less moderation, it’s easier for such language to slip through the cracks of smaller ones. Some non-English communities are particularly problematic due to Reddit’s lack of policing.
Abusive comments
Most Redditors flock to their favorite subreddit to discuss, debate, share advice or a light-hearted joke. But there are a minority who exploit the anonymous nature of the platform to abuse, troll, and cyberbully other Redditors.
Private messages and group chat
Like most other social media platforms, Reddit allows users to connect via private messages and invites to group chats. This can expose young Redditors to cyberbullies, online predators, sextorters, and other nefarious users taking advantage of the anonymous nature of the platform.
Spread of misinformation
As Reddit’s content is created and moderated almost entirely by its users, this allows communities of all kinds to spring up and flourish – but on the downside, it means you should be extra careful about what you believe.
Children tend to be more trusting than adults and may take everything they read on Reddit at face value. That’s why it’s important for parents to teach kids how to spot fake news.
Does Reddit have parental controls?
Unfortunately, Reddit lacks controls that allow parents to safeguard and monitor their child’s activities on the platform. You can change settings, for example, to prevent strangers from private messaging them, but this requires you to log into your child’s account – and trust that they won’t just change the settings back!
In place of in-built controls, many parents use a comprehensive parental control app like Qustodio to help them monitor and limit their child’s access to Reddit.
7 tips to make Reddit safer for teens
Despite the potential dangers, Reddit can be a place where your teen can learn, explore their passions, and connect with others who share the same interests.
If you’re considering allowing your teen to be a Redditor, here are a few tips to help them have a safer experience on the platform.
1. Over 16s only
Reddit’s official age rating is 13, but we think this is far too young to be exposed to the adult content that can easily be found throughout the communities.
After using the platform ourselves and reading reviews from parents, we recommend that children be at least 16 before using Reddit.
2. Talk with your teen
Start by taking an interest in the subreddits your teen interacts with, without judgment, to help lay the groundwork for open communication. If your teen encounters something, or someone, problematic on the site, they’ll be more likely to come to you for guidance.
Other conversation jumping-off points could be why it’s important to be kind online and what to do about cyberbullying.
It might be useful to agree on certain conditions before allowing your teen to use Reddit. For example, you can agree to only let them use the platform with the privacy settings you’ve set.
3. Stay as private as possible
Unlike other social media platforms, Reddit users can stay mostly anonymous – but it’s still possible to uncover personal information with a bit of sleuthing.
It’s especially important to protect the identities of minors, so discourage your teen from sharing pictures of themselves, in posts or their profile picture, or images that reveal their location. Make sure they’re aware of the dangers of sharing information like age, gender, and address too.
You can make your teen’s profile more private, and therefore safer, by toggling off options that allow people to follow them, view their content, and see which communities they are active in.
4. Turn off private messaging
To prevent strangers from connecting with your teen, you can switch from “Everyone” can send chat requests and private messages to “Nobody”.
If you want to allow your child to use private messaging, make sure they know how to block users. Blocked accounts won’t be able to communicate directly with your teen or view their content and activity.
5. Hide adult content
Under feed settings, you can toggle off an option to show 18+ (NSFW) images, videos, written content, and other media both in feeds and search results.
This isn’t foolproof as adult content that hasn’t yet been labeled NSFW can slip through and, as with changing any settings, you need to have your teen’s cooperation as they can simply change them back.
6. Let them use your account
If you want to be more vigilant about what your teen does on Reddit, you could sign up with your email address and allow them to use your account. This would let you monitor your teen’s activity on the platform as well as make sure the appropriate safety and privacy settings are in place.
7. Use parental controls
Reddit doesn’t have built-in parental controls, so many concerned families choose to use a parental control solution like Qustodio to help keep their children safe on the platform.
You can use Qustodio to:
- Monitor the time your teen spends on Reddit
- Set usage limits
- Block the Reddit app from being opened
- Receive an alert when the app is first opened
- Pause internet access at the push of a button
Is Reddit safe for kids? (TL;DR)
Reddit’s 100k+ communities cater to even the most niche of interests; and can be valuable resources for information and entertainment. However, there are aspects of the platform that can expose young users to adult content, as well as other threats like cyberbullying and grooming.
To keep older teens safe on Reddit, parents need to take an active role in their children’s activities on the platform. This might include optimizing account settings for privacy and safety, using parental control tools, and encouraging open conversation about their online activities.
