Here's Reddit’s 2020 Year in Review

23shares

As 2020 slowly comes to a close, Reddit has published its Year in Review, highlighting all the communities and conversations that defined it this year.

2020 was marked by some “life-changing, world-shifting, and often tumultuous events,” but people everywhere just kept calm (mostly) and carried on. So now, it’s time to look at the ways in which Reddit users came together on the platform throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Without further ado, here is Reddit’s 2020 Year in Review.

The Year in Review this year includes two new additions:

UK Year in Review – A first-ever report looking at the year’s biggest topics, communities, and trends in the UK.
r/weddingplanning and other communities sharing first-hand experiences of how they were affected by what’s been happening around the world this year.

Jump straight into the numbers below.

Reddit 2020 By-The-Numbers:

52 million daily active users – up 44% YoY*
303.4 million posts – up 52.4% YoY
2 billion comments – up 18.6% YoY
49.2 billion upvotes – up 53.8% YoY

Most Upvoted Posts of 2020:

(406k upvotes) I’ve found a few funny memories during lockdown. This is from my 1st tour in 89, backstage in Vegas. (via r/pics)
(292k upvotes) A short story (via r/memes)
(272k upvotes) Please make this go viral. I am begging you. Police and National Guard patrolling neighborhood and shooting civilians on their own property. Make America see this, I beg you. [Minneapolis] (via r/publicfreakout)
(271k upvotes) If this is you: Fu*k you (via r/pics)
(258k upvotes) “Everybody’s trying to shame us” (via r/publicfreakout)

Most Upvoted AMAs of 2020:

Reddit Conversations in 2020 – COVID Support

By The Numbers:

50.2M+ mentions of COVID, COVID-19 or coronavirus across the platform
#3 most popular community (by YoY activity) was r/coronavirus
48,286% YoY activity increase in r/unemployment
r/coronavirusrecession and r/stimuluscheck were the 2 biggest business communities (by subscribers) created in 2020
r/covid19_support experienced a 50x spike in activity in March

Most Discussed Topics in r/unemployment

Work search and career workshops
Online careers
CARES Act
Unemployment benefits
Self-employment

Most Discussed Topics in COVID-related communities

Social distancing
Medical advice
Reliable sources
Wearing masks
Herd immunity

Most Upvoted Posts in r/coronavirus

Reddit Conversations in 2020 – Moments and Movements that Mattered

By The Numbers:

9972.4% YoY activity increase in r/blacklivesmatter
40.8% YoY activity increase in r/politics
r/USPS experienced a 55.1% YoY increase in activity
r/2020policebrutality was the #1 activism community (by subscribers) created in 2020
r/politicaldiscussion experienced a 106% YoY increase in activity

Most Discussed Election Topics in r/politics

Supreme Court
COVID-19
Mail-in voting
Checking voter registration
Electoral college

Most Discussed Topics in r/blacklivesmatter

George Floyd
Police brutality
Social media
Breonna Taylor
Systemic racism

Most Discussed Topics in r/worldnews

COVID-19
Hong Kong
Climate Change
Middle East
Human Rights

Most Discussed Climate Change Issues in r/climate

Fossil fuels
Renewable energy
Carbon tax
Green New Deal
Sea levels

Reddit Conversations in 2020 – Advice and Connections

By the Numbers:

4 of the 5 top relationship communities in 2020 were focused on sharing advice (r/amitheasshole, r/relationship_advice, r/askmen, and r/advice)
128.4% YoY activity increase in r/penpals
100.3% YoY activity increase in r/needafriend
85.2% YoY subscriber increase in r/longdistance

Most Upvoted Posts in r/amitheasshole

(70.1k upvotes) AITA For suing my girlfriend after she had my 1967 impala project taken to the scrapyard?
(58.5k upvotes) UPDATE: WIBTA if I took over planning my own funeral from my very religious parents?
(50.6k upvotes) AITA for punishing my son after he said something racist?
(50.2k upvotes) UPDATE WIBTA For planting prickly bushes in my front yard to keep the neighbours kids from my property?
(46.9k upvotes) UPDATE AITA for not sharing my medical history before being pranked?

Most Discussed Activities in r/needafriend

Playing video games together
Bonding over TV shows
Visiting each other’s Animal Crossing islands
Social anxiety support
Sharing music recommendations

Most Discussed Topics in r/longdistance

Video chat and webcam recommendations
Separations due to COVID-19
Adapting to time differences
Supporting one another’s mental health
Uncertainty around travel bans and restrictions

Reddit Conversations in 2020 – Quarantine Activities

By the Numbers:

378.8% YoY activity increase in r/sourdough
612% YoY activity increase in r/homegym
121.7% YoY increase in mentions of “cut my own hair”
285.2% YoY activity increase in r/pelotoncycle
82.6% YoY activity increase in r/old_recipes

Most Discussed Recipes in r/old_recipes

Trends in Top 5 Beauty Communities (by Activity)

r/skincareaddiction: Mentions of “maskne” (mask acne) spiked by 305.6% in July
r/beautyguruchatter: James Charles was the #1 most-discussed influencer this year
r/curlyhair: Mentions of “fringe” cuts increased 57.5% YoY
r/makeupaddiction: During a year of mask-wearing, mentions of “eye makeup” spiked by 26% in July
r/weddingplanning: Mentions of postponing weddings spiked by 6600% in March

Most Discussed At-Home Workouts in r/homefitness

Push-ups
Resistance bands
Pull-ups
Jump rope
HIIT workouts

Reddit Conversations in 2020 – Entertainment Value

By the Numbers:

1771.8% YoY activity increase in r/animalcrossing
52.7% YoY activity increase in r/moviedetails
r/tigerking was the #1 TV community (by subscribers) created in 2020
Raymond was the #1 discussed villager in r/animalcrossing
Making a Murderer and Unsolved Mysteries were the top two true-crime TV shows (by community activity)

Most Discussed New or Upcoming Films in r/movies

Tenet
Dune
Mulan
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Sonic the Hedgehog
Wonder Woman 1984
Hamilton
Birds of Prey
Black Widow
Invisible Man

Here’s Reddit’s 2020 Year in Review