Reddit, a tool for exposure

Austin Greene · May 13, 2014

Hey folks,

I just thought I'd share a tidbit with those of you who might be looking to get your image some exposure. I've been a regular member of Reddit for some time now, and for the most part it is a horrible place for posting images. Most of the images people post are ripped, stolen, or otherwise not genuine. That said, there are some gems there, and I do think it's a great strategic way of boosting your exposure, if that is what you're looking to do.

Case in point, yesterday I posted a photo to Reddit, I'll post it below. Within six hours the image had made it to the front page of the website and hovered there for over four hours. Ultimately, the image got a total exposure of more than 940,000 unique views in less than a day. I now have an inbox full of print orders, and a request for the image to be published.

Don't take my post as bragging, I don't mean to. What I'm trying to highlight is that if you take the time to learn what the good denizens of Reddit enjoy and don't, they can be an invaluable asset for getting an image out there. Just make sure the one you upload to imgur (they aren't fans of Flickr links) is low-res, as it will be used countless times without your permission, but that's the cost of such exposure. I know you all have some great stuff, and I'd love to see it when I log into Reddit sometime

Best,
Austin

The photo:

cheshirecat79 · May 13, 2014

Note, however, that anyone's personal image getting to the front page is a very difficult endeavor that depends a lot on timing and chance. An excellent photo may get little to no exposure due to the way it's upvoted within a particular timeframe.

The way Reddit works is that new submissions are "weighted" against older ones. The newer the submission, the more a single upvote counts as far as moving the submission up through the hierarchy. Once your post has lingered a while, it's not as "hot" as it used to be and any upvotes it receives are diminished.

I'd suggest posting during the most active hours on the site and posting in the most active (and topical) subreddits that focus on the subject matter of your photo. You can always try just throwing something on r/pics but understand that there are literally hundreds of submissions a day and yours may just get lost in the deluge of content.

Or... five, ten, fifty people may upvote it within 20 minutes of your submitting the photo, which just snowballs and ends up with you on the front page.

Braineack · May 13, 2014

people on reddit really seem to hate money and like to give it away.

(this is not a statement about your work)

Austin Greene · May 13, 2014

cheshirecat79 said:
Note, however, that anyone's personal image getting to the front page is a very difficult endeavor that depends a lot on timing and chance. An excellent photo may get little to no exposure due to the way it's upvoted within a particular timeframe.

The way Reddit works is that new submissions are "weighted" against older ones. The newer the submission, the more a single upvote counts as far as moving the submission up through the hierarchy. Once your post has lingered a while, it's not as "hot" as it used to be and any upvotes it receives are diminished.

I'd suggest posting during the most active hours on the site and posting in the most active (and topical) subreddits that focus on the subject matter of your photo. You can always try just throwing something on r/pics but understand that there are literally hundreds of submissions a day and yours may just get lost in the deluge of content.

Or... five, ten, fifty people may upvote it within 20 minutes of your submitting the photo, which just snowballs and ends up with you on the front page.

Excellent advice and more in depth info than I provided. I would say that there is definitely a somewhat reliable "recipe" for making it to at least the second page. I've gotten several photos that made it there and they all were posted around the same time 6-9am PST and all had very simple, similar titles.

Then again, it could all just be random. The internet is funny that way.

Msteelio91 · May 13, 2014

Congrats again man

JohnnyWrench · May 13, 2014

I saw your image there yesterday Austin. Congrats on making the front page. And for all of you hearing about reddit for the first time, there's also some nice "photography" on /r/gonewild. :sexywink:

vintagesnaps · May 13, 2014

Seems like every time I look at one of these sites and read the terms, it's a deal breaker for me. Their Terms - which you can find by scrolling to the bottom in the really small print - state under 'your content' that -

"You retain the rights...' '...except as described below.'
'By submitting user content...' '...you grant us a royalty-free, perpetual...' '...unrestricted, worldwide license to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies...' etc. etc. '...for any purpose, including commercial...'.

Users may get some interest in their photos or maybe some sales, but how much is the site going to potentially profit from usage of your photos that you licensed to them by using the site?

Kazooie · May 13, 2014

Oh, I saw that the other day.

TinySquid · May 13, 2014

vintagesnaps said:
Seems like every time I look at one of these sites and read the terms, it's a deal breaker for me. Their Terms - which you can find by scrolling to the bottom in the really small print - state under 'your content' that -

"You retain the rights...' '...except as described below.'
'By submitting user content...' '...you grant us a royalty-free, perpetual...' '...unrestricted, worldwide license to reproduce [display to others on the internet], prepare derivative works [resize, crop, scale, or otherwise manipulate for the purposes of web display, transmission, and unity with our website], distribute copies [to viewers' computers as part of the caching process]...' etc. etc. '...for any purpose, including commercial [we have ads on our website, therefore your content generates revenue for us and could be construed as commercial use]...'.

A different perspective regarding their boilerplate...

Big Mike · May 14, 2014

I saw that one on Reddit. Congrats, it's well done.

I've thought about posting some of my work on there, if only for the sweet sweet karma (useless internet points)....but I haven't.

spacefuzz · May 14, 2014

Awesome congrats. Saw that on reddit as well, great you got orders for it!

Other issues I've run into, when I posted some of my stuff it was all downvoted since someone had apparently posted everything from my site a few months earlier. They stole my karma!

I have gotten a total of one order off reddit traffic. But thats better than none.

As an aside, now that we know your reddit name, any old posts you want to delete?