Difference Between Reddit and Twitter

Social websites have been the biggest information source since they came about.

Various social media focus on different topics, although most of them focus on celebrities and other influential people.

Reddit and Twitter are websites that are relied on for delivering fast and urgent information. They are often used one for the other.

It is wrong to do so since they are two platforms with different purposes. So what is the difference, and what should be used for what?

Key Takeaways

1. Reddit is a forum-based platform emphasizing discussions and communities, while Twitter is a microblogging platform focused on short messages.
2. Reddit allows for anonymous posting and commenting, while Twitter requires users to have a public profile.
3. Reddit has a reputation for being more thoughtful and informative, while Twitter is known for its fast-paced news updates and real-time conversations.

Reddit vs Twitter

Reddit is a social news and discussion website where users submit and vote on content in different categories called subreddits; it is organized around specific interests, Twitter is a microblogging platform where users share short messages or “tweets” with a limited number of characters, and Twitter is more general and focused on real-time communication.

Twitter is a social media website along with microblogging. The tweets are made for public attraction, and the news being tweeted need not be verified. So the news could be false. They are segregated based on trends within the website decided by the public and editors.

Reddit is a social news aggregation website. They only display verified news arranged per the number of votes they get from the users. The users are also to vote depending on the importance of the news. One need not reveal themselves on Reddit.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Reddit	Twitter
Meaning	It is a social news aggregation website, web content rating and discussion service website.	It is a microblogging and social networking service.
Dependency	User dependent	Public dependent
Post segregation	The users vote on the posts. The votes are cast based on how important the news is and is then segregated and viewed according to the votes.	You must follow the person to get important tweets, and the tweet must be trending. So it is decided by the public and not by the users.
Following	One doesn’t have to follow a person or a group to be able to access the posts. They only need to follow the subreddit or the community to receive similar news.	It is necessary to follow a person to be able to view their tweets and to be able to retweet or vote on them.
Privacy	It does not give any details about the individual posting other than their username, which need not be their name.	The username can be different from the individual’s actual name, but it is necessary to give a bio about the profile user.

What is Reddit?

Reddit is a news aggregation website used for content rating and discussion.

According to the website, there are only about 2.3 M registered users of Reddit.

Only the registered members can share posts on Reddit, and they are voted on based on the topic and importance of the news.

These posts can be in the form of links, images or other similar media.

The important fact to note is that one can collect information from other websites to post on Reddit.

So only relevant and verified news is displayed by the users. Reddit also maintains users’ anonymity.

This is helpful, especially for people who want to make new friends or want someone to talk to without revealing their identity.

They can talk to and follow communities of interest instead of individuals.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a microblogging website which also provides social networking services. There are about 200M registered users on Twitter. So it has a greater reach than Reddit.

Like Reddit, only registered users can post tweets on Twitter, and unregistered users can only read them.

Other registered users can also tweet, retweet and like the posted tweet.

Though this platform is also used for providing news and important message, it is not easily accessible. This is because they are displayed according to the ongoing trends.

So even if important news is to be publicized through Twitter, it is not possible unless it is already trending on Twitter. The public and the editors of Twitter decide the trends.

Main Differences Between Reddit and Twitter

1. Twitter and Reddit are websites that collect news in the form of posts. But Twitter is only a microblogging and social networking service website. The tweet tweeted need not always be true. On the other hand, Reddit is a social news aggregation website with a content rating and discussion services.
2. Reddit is dependent on the users of the website. They need not be registered users. At the same time, Twitter depends on the general public, registered profile users of Twitter, and their editors.
3. The segregation and maintenance of the posts are also different for the two. In the case of Reddit, the posts are voted on by the users depending on the importance of the news or message being delivered. They are then arranged on the website for votes. On Twitter, the tweet must be trending to get the post. The trending ones need not always be important.
4. The pattern for the following is also different for the two websites. One only needs to follow a community related to the topic they are searching for news for in Reddit, and it would only generate posts related to those topics in the feed. The news would reach much faster. In the case of Twitter, you need to follow an individual or a group. If you need tweets related to music, you will have to follow the artists themselves.
5. There is privacy in the case of Reddit. The only information that is displayed of the user is their username. The username need not match their actual name and can be anything random. Though this is also possible on Twitter, it requires one to fill out a bio about themselves. So anonymity is reduced on Twitter.

References

1. Where should one get news updates: Twitter or Reddit – ScienceDirect
2. An evaluation of document clustering and topic modelling in two online social networks: Twitter and Reddit – ScienceDirect