You Can Increase Your Outreach With Reddit

Generate more writing ideas and extend your stories’ coverage.

Jan 19

Many trips on your life’s journey will take you through less-trodden paths.

Often, the less traveled road could be intimidating. Even if for no other reason, it is unknown and full of uncertainties. And the first response to any uncertainty could be, “Why border at all when you can stay safe on the tried and tested path?”

And so, many of us defaults to the well-beaten path.

Many of life’s best destinations and experiences are serendipitous. So much satiated at the end of such journeys, you may even reproach yourself with, “Why didn’t I take this path earlier on?”

As in life, so it is with many of our “can’t live without” apps of modern life.

You may never discover the elegance and practical usefulness of some apps until after your second, third or possibly more uninstalls and reinstalls.

At other times, these apps may be so easy and in your face, but you just couldn’t see their game-changing benefits because you got so cozy with your old “analog” ways.

At other times, these apps may be so easy and in your face, but you just couldn’t see their game changing benefits because you got so cozy with your old “analog” ways.

Two such apps, Mastodon and Reddit, recently find their way back into my phone. I wrote about my first time out on Mastodon in a previous article.

I installed Reddit over two years ago. Last week, I did a double-take revisit of the app. It was breathtaking. The engagements there are richer and the potential for reaching further is more promising.

Similar to Twitter, Reddit, (as I see it), enables you to create your own “private Twitter” space. There, you connect with and share with individuals and communities with similar interests. You have more control over the people and groups you connect and interact with.

On Twitter where every tweet can be algorithmically sent to your profile, on Mastodon, you choose which server instances, individuals, or communities you may wish to join.

Reddit incorporates the best of both Twitter and Mastodon. You can create your own subreddit and connect with other users and communities (subreddits).

Every subreddit has its rules which you must comply with.

As an example, my username on Reddit is None_4All (https://reddit.com/u/None_4All).

A subreddit will have a name similar to my creation — https://reddit.com/r/Muse2Muse.

While writing on Reddit, I use these links u/None_4All and r/Muse2Muse to link to other Redditors.

There are 100s of millions of Redditors. Reddit users have a tradition of cooking up strange-sounding names. My user name, subreddit, and icon are tamer in comparison to many of those you will meet at first contact.

Register your arrival on Reddit

Install the app and register your username.
Join subreddits that match your interests. There are thousands of subreddits.
Create your own subreddit, invite other redditors, and share.

Screenshot of r/Muse2Muse subreddit page by the author

With millions of mobile-installed apps and growing at over 120,000 users per month, Reddit is a great platform to grow your reading and writing community.

For me, part of the fun is breaking through the initial learning curve. You don’t need to know everything before you take a plunge.

On Reddit, I share my Medium and Substack stories.

Don’t forget, it’s not all about you.

Use Reddit to promote your own and others’ stories as well. The rule of thumb is 9:1. I was unaware of this until I read Liquid Ocelot article on Reddit. What it means is, to promote or share 9 external for every 1 post of yours you share. This rule of thumb is crucial and it doesn’t limit you at all. I later saw it emphasized on Reddit’s redittiquette page.

Remember, no matter how cerebral your writings are, if all you ever post or share is exclusively your own work, you may just end up turning your subreddit into a spam mill. Certainly, that is nobody’s writing goal.

Remember, no matter how cerebral your writings, if all you ever post or share is exclusively your own work, you may just end up turning your subreddit into a spam mill. Certainly, that is nobody’s writing goal.

Reddit gives you the possibility for extending the reach of your ideas and writings while building a loyal following. All it takes is for you to soar your imagination. Creatively.

Screenshot of the author’s Reddit homepage and r/Muse2Muse subreddit homepage **by the author**

Posting on Reddit

You can write new posts directly from your Reddit or subreddit home page. You can also share your username or to the subreddit you manage from external apps. As an example, you can copy the link of any Medium story and paste it on the Reddit editor page. Your Medium post feature image will replicate on your Reddit post.

Give your new post a title. As an example, if you are sharing a Medium post, you can encourage your readers on Reddit to follow through to your Medium page by typing some lines of text to provide context for your visitors.

Read the rules applicable to your subreddit. Otherwise, you may get banned or even get blocked from the subreddit or Reddit.

New users can get banned from subrredits because they inadvertently break some rules they are not yet thoroughly familiar with. This is not a disadvantage. Truth is that if a subreddit blocks you, you may even find a better subreddit.

Adding images to your Redditor posts

On the mobile app, you can post a text or an image post. But you can’t directly add an image to your text post as in Medium or Substack. However, when you share the URL of a post that has an embedded image, the image gets displayed in your Reddit post.

The desktop web-based app doesn’t have this limitation. Subject to a subreddit’s rules, you can add text and images to the same post.

To add images to your mobile app posts, copy and paste the link of your image source into the body of your text post. The image will feature in your Reddit post.

Use Imgur to create and add image links to your Reddit posts

Install Imgur on your phone or go to the website on your desktop.
Register as a new user and log in.
Add the image you want to use on your post into the app.
Imgur stores your image on its server. Copy and paste the URL (permalink) created for this image. Past the permalink into the text field in your post.
Your image is now embedded in your post. Sweet and easy.

Final Word

Some apps seem to have steep learning curves because we’re already set in old and tested ways. Also, most users are reluctant to learn “new tricks”. Exploring new, unknown, and less even used apps may help to amplify your writing — better, further, faster, and wider.

Thank you for reading.

Click here and connect with me on Reddit. Click here and let's share and promote our writings together.

𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝟚 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕖 - 𝕦𝕟𝕊𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕕