Abstract

This paper argues that the notion of credibility and trust from online users toward ‘professional’ sources has gradually shifted to become preferential of content created and/or shared by individual users of community-based social media platforms, such as Reddit. This rise in perceived value of user-generated content can be attributed to the appeal of human authenticity, the credibility of online users due to content validation-systems and peer-centric authority, and the sharing of experiential knowledge.

Introduction

Online communities have been a prevalent aspect of the internet since its conception, providing people with an almost unlimited ability to connect to and conversate with others without the need for close proximity. The rise of these online communities, which act as hubs for information-sharing between users, has become the central core of what the internet is today – a vast network of information, communication and knowledge. With such a wide range of sources available, many organisations on the internet, such as news sites, professional blogs and academia, have stood out amongst the rest and become recognised as credible authorities on numerous topics. However, this paper argues that the notion of credibility and trust from online users toward ‘professional’ sources has gradually shifted to become preferential of content created and/or shared by individual users of community-based social media platforms, such as Reddit. This rise in perceived value of user-generated content can be attributed to the appeal of human authenticity, the credibility of online users due to content validation-systems and peer-centric authority, and the sharing of experiential knowledge.

Reddit is a social media platform that hosts countless community forums, referred to as ‘subreddits’, where users can share, create and engage with content that varies from educational to entertaining. The platform has more than 97 million active users per day (Gill, 2025) and hosts over 100,000 active subreddits. It also records around 1.21 billion monthly users worldwide (Gill, 2025). The statistics demonstrate Reddit’s popularity among online users as a community-based content platform.

The appeal of human authenticity

People, in general, are more likely to trust those who demonstrate their authentic selves and are more likely to form a connection with them. Like any other social media platform, Reddit users can choose to remain relatively anonymous behind their user profiles while still being able to contribute or engage with content on various subreddits. This ‘safety’ of anonymity can often lead to users feeling more confident to share information, opinions and content without significant backlash and as such, may result in content that is perceived by users as more authentic and genuine. Content posted on Reddit, while varying in its moderation depending on which subreddits the content is posted on, is usually unedited and ‘raw’ compared to the content posted by professional brands. These posts often utilise a conversational voice or may not adhere to grammatical rules at all, which contributes to the feeling of human authenticity within Reddit’s platform. According to a 2017 Consumer Content Report survey of 2,000 adults in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, eighty-six percent of survey participants feel that authenticity is an important factor when deciding on what brands they support online (Cassidy, 2017). Furthermore, sixty percent of participants believed that user-generated content has three times more authenticity than brand-created content. These statistics are important when recognising that the majority of content on Reddit is uploaded by ‘real’ individuals who are sharing their own opinions and bias, therefore creating that sense of authenticity. Compare this to content produced by traditional media outlets and organisations, which is heavily edited and screened before being published to their audiences. While this may add to the credibility of professional organisations, it is still more and more common for online users to prefer to consume their content from platforms like Reddit due to the appeal of authenticity from the people who share the content. 

User credibility through content-validation systems

A common function of community-based social media platforms like Reddit are content validation systems, which has also contributed to this shift in user-generated content preference. Reddit has its ‘karma points’ system, which is made up of ‘upvotes’ and ‘downvotes’ (Anderson, 2015). Users of the platform can either upvote content that they like or downvote content that they dislike, and the user who posted the content will either gain karma points (for upvotes) or lose them (for downvotes). As such, Reddit’s karma system encourages and rewards its users for posting content that is viewed as favourable by their peers. This means that posts with a high number of upvotes are more likely to be perceived as credible, reliable or valuable (Our Mental Health, n.d.). This karma system of upvotes and downvotes highlights an important part of Reddit’s influence in shifting people’s trust in online sources. It demonstrates that, collectively, online users will choose for themselves what they view as credible and trustworthy. The onus is on the community itself, and as such, credibility on platforms like Reddit is earned, not given. In comparison, professional organisations with online content use their pre-existing reputation to provide credibility to their audience. They may even feature content provided by reputable individuals or organisations to ensure that a sense of trust is created from their audience. The key difference between platforms like Reddit and more traditional sources of content/news is how content and those who create content are filtered and vetted; the karma system of Reddit allows for content that has been peer-reviewed and approved by members of the online community, while traditional sources rely on top-to-bottom expertise and reputation to present information. This difference plays a part in the changing view of community-based platforms.

That isn’t to say that Reddit does not also utilise experts in their fields to present information to users. Take, for example, the subreddit r/AskHistorians, an extremely popular community on the platform that ‘aims to provide serious, academic-level answers to questions about history’ (Reddit, n.d.). It is a highly popular subreddit, with over 2.3 million readers, and features posts that, as the name implies, welcome questions about history. Other users, either actual credited historians or non-certified individuals with a keen interest in the subject matter, will then provide answers to these questions within the post itself, after careful consideration and curation by moderators who ensure answers are of academic credibility (Hallum, 2016). There is even a type of submission to the subreddit called an ‘Ask Me Anything’ (AMA) that is arranged by moderators and hosted by a historical expert or panel with relevant backgrounds on certain topics. These topics range from medieval warfare to the history of global timekeeping. Communities like the r/AskHistorians subreddit and the use of content validation systems emphasises the role of platforms like Reddit as genuine sources of information and knowledge on the internet, with content that has been peer-reviewed and vetted by their communities. Ultimately, this has helped encourage more online users to seek information from these platforms.

The sharing of experiential knowledge  

Another important factor that has influenced the preferential shift to community-based social media platforms is the value and sharing of experiential knowledge. Experiential knowledge is defined as ‘a way of knowing and understanding through direct engagement’ (Nimkulrat et al., 2020) and is a core component of the information posted on platforms like Reddit. Much of the content posted on Reddit and similar social media platforms, from the posts themselves to subsequent responses and replies, is based on experiential knowledge. The second-largest community on Reddit is r/AskReddit, which describes itself as ‘the place to ask and answer thought-provoking questions’ (Reddit, n.d.). Similar to r/AskHistorians, people can ask questions as posts within the subreddit and other users will then respond with their own answers. One such example was a post created in 2020 which asked ‘What free things online should everyone take advantage of?’, with just over 15,000 comments providing examples of useful websites that they’ve found. Another was a post asking fourty-year olds, who claimed they were happy with their life, for advice they’d give tto people in their twenties. Subreddits like r/AskReddit and r/AskHistorians are only a few examples of the countless communities that encourage content and responses based on experiential knowledge, but their popularity demonstrates the value of it. One reason why content that utilises experiential knowledge is on the rise may be due to younger generations involvement in participatory culture, which is ‘a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby experienced participants pass along knowledge to novices’ (Jenkins, 2009). This idea intertwines with the concept of experiential knowledge as online users have, firstly, a platform to easily create and engage with content, and secondly, are able to share learned experiences to others with less knowledge on certain topics. Overall, this too has played an important role in the shift of preference online.

The value of traditional content platforms

However, it is important to recognise the argument against this shift of preference. As mentioned before, Reddit’s platform highly encourages and features content that is peer-vetted by its community of users through its use of subreddit moderators and its karma point system. While this has its benefits, it can be argued that it also has significant drawbacks as a guaranteed, reliable source for information. Even while subreddits like r/AskHistorians and r/AskReddit have moderators that adhere to strict guidelines on what can and can’t be posted, especially in terms of verifying credibility of users posting content and ensuring content is factually correct, this does not guarantee all content on Reddit is accurate. After all, a majority of contributers in the Reddit community are not professionals or credited individuals within topics that they may be contributing towards. Content posted on the platform from those who are not qualified sources may pose a risk of innaccuracy, accountability or lack of relevant context when sharing knowledge or information, especially regarding topics such as health or legal practices. Additionally, peer-based social media platforms like Reddit pose the risk of creating echo chambers – a network of users that only engage with opinions and ideas that are in line with their own existing opions, and disregard those that oppose them (Alatawi et al, 2021). These echo chambers can lead to radicalisation of communities and a dangerous spread of misinformation. That is why it is important to recognise that, although the shift of preference towards community-based platforms is increasing, it does not mean that the importance or reliability of more traditional online sources such as news websites or blogs is or will inherently become void. These sources still hold significance, and they have strict rules and regulations that are in effect to help provide online users with credible information. Therefore, to ensure that information gathered from the web is factual, credible and accurate, online users should still try to cross-reference and utilise both peer-based and external institutional sources. 

Conclusion

As such, due to these factors of authenticity, peer-authority, content validation, and sharing of experiential knowledge, while also taking into consideration the relevant counter-arguments outlined above, it can be argued that users of the web have started to shift their content preferences. This is most prevelantly seen through the growing number of users and communities on Reddit. The fact that so many online users turn to Reddit for answers to questions that they could find on more ‘reputable’ institutes is indicative of the argument regarding an online shift in content preference.

References

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Alatawi, F., Cheng, L., Tahir, A., Karami, M., Jiang, B., Black, T., & Liu, H. (2021). A Survey on Echo Chambers on Social Media: Description, Detection and Mitigation. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2112.05084