If you live in the US, you have probably heard about the front page of the Internet – which is Reddit. Reddit, although not as popular as Facebook and Twitter across the world is a great source of the latest news, opinion polls, and memes. It is said that by the time a meme trends across the world, it usually has already made rounds on Reddit. Those outside Reddit receive everything second hand.

Reddit is a modest social media platform founded by Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, and Aaron Swartz in 2005. Based on your interest(s), you join a community and engage with other users about what you have in common. This article is going to help you to set up a Reddit account.

See also: How to save Reddit posts

Why set it up?

These are some of the reasons you could be having for wanting to set up a Reddit account:

1. To be the first to get news (however, this is arguable)
2. To find people with whom you share interests with
3. To market your product or service through ads

Now, the mystery of setting up an account will be solved.

Setting it up

It is possible to set up a Reddit account on the app (iOS and Android) and Reddit’s website.

On the app

1. Download the app from the Play Store or App Store.
2. When the download is complete, tap on the app’s icon (smiley face with an antenna). It opens to the ‘Popular’ screen and you can immediately start seeing feeds.
3. Slide left to the ‘Home’ tab and tap on the blue ‘Sign Up’ button. Alternatively, you can tap on the top-left corner and on the menu that slides in, tap on the ‘Sign up/Log in’.
4. Whichever step you take, you should be seeing the ‘Create an account’ screen.
5. Add your email, username, and password (use a password manager to suggest a strong password that you won’t even remember).
6. Once this is done, you will be directed to the ‘Join 5 communities you’re interested in to continue’ screen. This is Reddit’s way of getting you settled in. Slide to a community(or subreddit) you like and tap the ‘+ join’ icon. However, you can choose to skip (top-right button).
7. If you join 5 communities, press the ‘Continue’ button. The ‘Home’ tab will now start to show feeds from the communities you joined.

On the web

1. Open Reddit’s website.
2. On the top-right corner of the page, click on the ‘Sign Up’ button at the top-right corner. The ‘Sign Up’ menu will float above the other open windows.
3. Enter the email you want to sign up with and after it is okayed (blue tick next to it), click on ‘Continue’.
4. Then, choose a username and password. Once the ‘I am not a robot’ check is successful, tap on the ‘Sign Up’ button below the window.
5. Choose the communities you want to join and finish up the account creation.

Take notes

Once you have your Reddit account, you should be aware of the following things:

1. Reddit has a tough content policy that sets restrictions on the nature of the content to be shared. So, you need to be careful not to offend anyone or any group of people. If whatever you’re posting is naughty, consider labeling it as NSFW (Not Safe for Work)
2. Reddit works with votes. When you like a post or a comment, you upvote it and when you don’t, you downvote it.

Easy or what?

Welcome to Reddit and enjoy being on the front page of the Internet.