Reddit lags behind other social networks in time spent—but there’s a reason

The news: Reddit users spend close to 24 minutes per day on the platform, per our new forecast—the first time we have estimated this metric.

• This number counts just logged-in users, rather than those who browse the platform without actually having an account.
• Time spent on Reddit will represent one in every 200 minutes spent with media, coming in as the seventh most engaging social network.

• Reddit will make up around 0.8% of digital time this year and will increase to just under 1% in 2024.
• Reddit makes up about 5.3% of total social time and will approach 6% in 2024.

Driving interest: Reddit debuted an AI-driven Discover tab in February which, if effective, should increase engagement. It shows users an algorithm-driven feed with photos, videos, and other content from the communities that they follow.

• The new tab is a not insignificant part of Reddit’s push to make its platform more appealing to advertisers, which it is actively courting. It is also making significant efforts to increase participation in European markets including the UK.

The big takeaway: Engagement on Reddit should be lower than on social platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram since Reddit sees itself as more of a research and educational platform than an entertainment and video-based platform.

• But given the way internet users use Reddit, there’s an argument to be made that it ought not to be compared as much with the likes of TikTok and YouTube.

Go further: Review our recently released Time Spent with Social Networks forecast here.