What is Reddit?

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Reddit is the central hub for everything that exists on the internet. Almost like if Google, Twitter (now X), and Facebook Groups joined forces into one digital space. People talk about everything and anything, divided into groups based on topics. It’s the front-page of the internet. Wonderful and horrific, all at once. Rated 17+ because some of the worst content on the internet is accessible through Reddit (see rating description below).

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Reddit has an app for both Android and Apple devices. The app used to be rather clunky, but some new updates made the interface smooth, clear, and much easier to use on mobile devices.

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According to Backlinko, Reddit has 430M+ active monthly users and 100K+ active groups (called “topics” and “sub-reddits”).

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How Does Reddit Work?

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Just like everywhere else, there are short form videos that can be found on Reddit. As well as newly designated “Media” tab, where people can search specific terms and find images and videos from across all topics and subreddits.

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There is also no age minimum to sign up for an account on the app. Signing up for an account is necessary if you want to:

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• Save any groups (sub-reddits) discussions, or posts you are interested in
• Comment and post within discussions and subreddits
• View NSFW (Not Safe For Work) content

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To sign up, simply use an email, create a password, and verify your email.

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What Do Parents Need to Know About Reddit?

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Reddit is the #1 App in the News category on the Apple App Store. Parents, you need to know a little about this app that holds so much content. Short-form Videos

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Almost Anything Goes on Reddit

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Reddit is known for allowing almost any type of post and discussion within its subreddits. This is taken directly from their content policy:

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While Reddit generally provides a lot of leeway in what content is acceptable, here are some guidelines for content that is not. Please keep in mind the spirit in which these were written, and know that looking for loopholes is a waste of time.

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Content is prohibited if it:

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• Is illegal
• Is involuntary pornography (there’s plenty of voluntary porn)
• Is sexual or suggestive content involving minors
• Encourages or incites violence
• Threatens, harasses, or bullies or encourages others to do so
• Is personal and confidential information
• Impersonates someone in a misleading or deceptive manner
• Uses Reddit to solicit or facilitate any transaction or gift involving certain goods and services
• Is spam

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While browsing, many subreddits use vulgar language and explicit in their descriptions – these are unavoidable. Some even have vulgar language in the title. Subreddits that are NSFW or NSFL (Not Safe For Life) must be marked as such and will have red lettering, marking the content as explicit.

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Users can post NSFW content from the desktop version of Reddit and from the app. The platform continues to support NSFW communities, which are all rated 17+ and are blurred by default.

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All topics and subreddits start with “r/” – for example, r/Fitness is a topic and r/FitLifeVideos is a subreddit within that topic. Users can then post within that subreddit and user names are prefaced by “u/” — for example user PYE would have the user name u/pye.

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Reddit Offers Snapchat Integration

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Reddit users on iOS can share content to their Snapchat account. This is significant! Users can share text, links, and image-based posts on iOS from Reddit’s “Safe for Work” communities.

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Reddit Premium

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Reddit has a currency (Coins) that users can use to award posts and comments. Prices range from $1.99 to $99.99. For $6.99/month, you can get Reddit Premium, which offers an ad-free experience, 700 coins each month, and access to the exclusive r/lounge community.

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In-App Browsers On Reddit

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Users can choose whether to have links open up within the app, in Safari, or within the app on Safari. Just something for parents to be aware of if they’ve removed Safari (as an example) because Reddit will still provide non-Safari search capabilities.

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Does Reddit Use AI?

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Reddit is integrating AI into the app and website and has partnerships with Google and OpenAI to train AI language models on it's content.

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"Reddit Answers" is Reddit's own AI you can ask questions and get answers from, based on Reddit discussions.

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How to Make Reddit Safer:

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Regardless of the app, three actions mitigate the risks we’ve shared. We teach these actions in our parent presentations:

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1. Require approval for all app downloads.
2. Follow the 7-Day Rule
3. Enable in-app controls and settings

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We explain each of them briefly below. If you’ve already set up approvals for downloads and have used the app, please skip to the In-App Controls & Settings.

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Require Approval for App Downloads

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You can control app stores by requiring permission for apps to be downloaded. This is ensures your child doesn’t have access to an app without your knowledge. Here are the steps (for Apple and Android users):

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For Apple Devices:

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To require permission to download an app, you’ll need to set up Screen Time and Family Sharing (Apple’s Parental Controls). We explain this process step-by-step in our Complete iOS Guide (click here).  

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Once Screen Time and Family Sharing are established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Apple device:

1. Go to your Settings app.
2. Select your Family.
3. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
4. Scroll down to “Ask to Buy” and enable.

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For Android Devices:

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You’ll have to use Family Link (Android’s parental controls) to ensure you retain control over what apps are downloaded. We explain this process step-by-step in our Android Guide (click here).

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Once Family Link is established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Android device:

1. Go to the Family Link App
2. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
3. Select “Google Play Store”
4. Select “Purchases & download approval” and set it to “All Content.”

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Follow the 7-Day Rule

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This is our tried-and-true method of determining whether a specific app is safe for your specific child.

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Before you let your child use it, download the app and use it for 7 days.

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Create an account with your child’s age and gender and use it for 7 days. Play through a few levels, review the ads, see if anyone can chat with you, and poke around like a curious child.

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After a week, ask yourself, “Do I want my child to experience what I did?”  Even if you decide to allow them to download the app, now you have a basis for curious conversations about the app when you check in.

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Enable In-App Controls & Settings

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Reddit Parental Controls

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On iOS, you can toggle off the ability to view NSFW content, but the toggle can’t be locked. See the iOS screenshots below. On Android, there’s no toggle. Apple users, be sure to blur NSFW content as well!

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For better controls, seek to use device specific controls among Apple, Android, or Windows.

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If you allow your Kid to use Reddit:

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• On both iOS and Android, just use the Reddit app without logging in. You can browse subreddits, but NSFW content will be blocked by default.
• On iOS, if they want to log in so that they can interact with subreddit content, just make sure they leave the “Show NSFW Content (18+)” toggle off (per the image above).
• On both iOS and Android, use Bark to monitor Reddit activity for anything concerning.

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If you don’t allow your Kid to use Reddit:

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• Add www.reddit.com to a list of blocked websites on the smartphone. For iOS, this is done in Screen Time. On Android, this is done through Family Link.
• Remove the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android) so that the app cannot be downloaded (related blog post: 3 Reasons for Removing the App Store).
• Use CleanBrowsing’s Family DNS, which automatically blocks access to Reddit. Learn how to change a smartphone’s DNS with this post: How to Block Porn on Any Device. For Free.

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Bottom Line: Is Reddit Safe for Kids?

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There is so much content on Reddit that would be fine for a kid to read, but there is also way too much explicit and questionable content for us to consider this to be a safe platform for children. 17+ rating is accurate, we suggest to stick to it.

What if I have more questions? How can I stay up to date?

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Two actions you can take!

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1. Subscribe to our tech trends newsletter, the PYE Download. About every 3 weeks, we’ll share what’s new, what the PYE team is up to, and a message from Chris.
2. Ask your questions in our private parent community called The Table! It’s not another Facebook group. No ads, no algorithms, no asterisks. Just honest, critical conversations and deep learning! For parents who want to “go slow” together. Become a member today!

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