Reddit has overtaken TikTok in the UK. What does this mean?
Hello! I’m back after the festive break. One of the things which has caught my eye over the last few weeks has been Reddit overtaking TikTok as the fourth most visited social media platform in the UK. Given that TIkTok isn’t exactly in decline, this represents great news for “the heart of the internet”.
Reddit has had a huge growth spurt in the last couple of years, with an 88% increase in the proportion of UK users who it reaches.
Why is this? Well, my own view is that it has somewhat taken over from Twitter/X as the place people go to have a chat and a natter about current affairs and pop culture. I’ve noticed this myself; where once I’d have been checking Twitter for key developments during The Traitors, now I’m turning to Reddit.
Less anecdotally, a change in Google’s search algorithm prioritises “human” content and Reddit has been a major beneficiary of this - though, as the SEJ phrases it, it could be said that Google is prioritising opinions over expertise. One to make Michael Gove happy, perhaps.
Either way, the impact this has had on traffic is inarguable. Outside of this, my own experience from a few client audits (and also just from my own usage of ChatGPT, particularly for matters relating to running a small business noted that Reddit is one of the most cited platforms by LLMs.
There’s a few takeaways from this. Firstly, as I’ve talked about before, it’s never been a better time to advertise on the platform. Away from that, you need to be looking at your own sector and how people are talking about you on there - as this is likely to have a bearing on both search and LLM results.
Further Reading
It’s been hard to miss the furore over Grok creating indecent content, though the latest slightly surreal twist this week is that Elon Musk is denying that it does, with a defence not a million miles away from “Guns don’t kill people, Rappers do.”
Related to this however is that the US Senate has passed the defiance act, which is designed to help people who fall victim to deepfakes to take action, with a similar law planned in the UK.
Elsewhere, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon are paying for enterprise access to Wikipedia. This gives them (and, more pertinently, their AI/LLMs) enterprise-level access to the encyclopedia. It’s another interesting example of how publishers are getting themselves together to ensure survival in the medium term.
Finally, in case you missed it, at the tail end of last year I pulled together a guide to state of play around the key themes and topics in the world of digital marketing as we head into 2026.
That’s it for this week! I’ll be back next week. If you found this interesting, I would hugely appreciate it if you shared with your friends and colleagues.
If you’re feeling particularly generous and enjoyed this edition, I won’t stop you from buying me a coffee. Otherwise, I’ll see you next time 🫶
Interesting as always! The quality of content on Reddit has also unfortunately tanked since the exodus from Twitter. This doesn't bode well for what was for such a long time a fairly resilient stronghold of old internet vibes.