Reddit Offers Trending Subreddits on Front Page

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Image: Mashable Composite Reddit

By Brian Koerber2014-04-11 18:32:12 UTC

If you follow the front page of Reddit, you may notice it looks a little different Friday.

Following the trend of listing trends, Reddit has added a trending section to its main page, which drives more traffic to smaller communities, know as subreddits.

See also: Reddit: A Beginner's Guide

The feature was launched Thursday, when moderator Umbrae officially announced it in this post: "We're exploring a new way to show subreddits that have gained in popularity lately by showing you 5 trending subreddits on the front page."

The trending section will contain SFW (safe for work) subreddits only. And what defines a trending subreddit? That's still unknown — on purpose. The lure of Reddit front page traffic is so strong, the company fears, it may induce cheating.

trending

"Currently, subreddits will be chosen to be on the list based on a Secret Formula™ that updates approximately daily," Umbrae wrote. "The formula for subreddit choosing is completely subject to change and contains anti-cheating controls. Users attempting to game a subreddit into the trending list will be banned."

Reddit previously tried to draw attention to its smaller and newer communities with the Subreddit of the Day feature. But the trending formula should showcase a greater variety of subreddits, and make the promotion decision less arbitrary.

Friday's trending subreddits were r/Oddlysatisfying, r/ShowerThoughts, r/JapaneseGameShows, r/Minimalism and r/H1Z1.