According to the communications watchdog, Reddit, the US online discussion platform, has surpassed X to become the fifth most popular social media platform in the UK. In May of this year, 22.9 million UK adults visited Reddit, compared to 22.1 million on X, as reported by Ofcom.
Reddit, known for its topic-based communities where users engage in discussion threads, experienced a 47% growth in the UK compared to the same period in 2023, making it the fastest-growing large-scale social media platform. This growth led Reddit to overtake LinkedIn and X, claiming the fifth spot in the UK social media platform ranking, with YouTube surpassing Facebook as the top platform with over 44 million adult users.
The increase in organic search traffic on Reddit was attributed to Google’s latest algorithm updates in the first half of 2024, according to Farhad Divecha, managing director of Acuracast. Ofcom suggested that the rise in Reddit’s popularity may also be due to changes in third-party apps accessing content, prompting users to visit the Reddit site. However, Ofcom also raised concerns about Reddit’s promotion of stock market surfacing.
X, on the other hand, has seen a decline in popularity, with an 8% decrease in reach since May last year. Criticisms of X’s content moderation standards have been ongoing since Elon Musk acquired the platform in 2022. The introduction of a rival platform by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta and competition from Threads have added pressure on X.
Ofcom’s annual report on digital habits highlighted the prevalence of misinformation and deepfakes online, with four in 10 UK adults encountering such content. One-third of UK adults lack confidence in distinguishing AI-generated images, audio, or videos.
Source: www.theguardian.com
