Reddit Makeover Part 4: Authentication and Communication
Some sub-Reddits require publishers to authenticate their Reddit accounts on their websites or other social media accounts before they are allowed to step in. In our case, moderators of CryptoCurrency sub-Reddit required us to either add a Reddit social share button on our website or promote our Reddit account on our other social media. We followed the instruction, showed the moderators links to the posts below and got on their whitelist.
On Twitter:
On Facebook:
On LinkedIn:
Note: For my master’s capstone project, I worked with Barron’s editorial development, design and reporting teams and Reddit’s Media Partnerships team to help them build a presence on Reddit from scratch. I will be posting my findings and gradual steps for publishers to engage with Reddit users every week.
If you are new to Reddit, read the series step by step, as all of them are built on one another. Skipping one step will probably leave you confused when you read those after it. You can bookmark any article (if you are not logged in) or save it to your Medium account (if you are logged in) if you want to review it later. You can treat the guide as a workbook. Save it and refer back to it as you go through each of them to build a presence on Reddit.
Keep in mind that different sub-Reddits may not have the same rules for account authentication, so do it according to what moderators require you to as long as it doesn’t break the law. Cross promoting Reddit accounts on your websites and other social media always helps because it encourages your followers on other platforms to follow you on Reddit.
Note that Reddit has its rule regarding the proper and improper use of its icon when you add the social sharing buttons.
You don’t have to memorize all the examples of proper and improper uses. Feel free to download the Brand Assets that contains all the permitted logos and icons.
(The link above will enable auto-download.)
Bottom lines regarding the use of the Reddit icon (also called Snoo) and its other brand assets:
You are free to use the brand assets if you meet any of the following requirements:
- You use the icon in proper ways (shown above) to enable sharing to Reddit or refer to your presence on it.
- You use the brand assets according to a separate agreement you have with Reddit.
- You embed posts or comments on Reddit.
However, Reddit usually does not permit use of its brand assets on your merchandise or use of Reddit brand as any part of the name of your companies and its assets, including using the term “Reddit” on your other social media accounts.
If you are not sure about whether your use of Reddit’s brand assets is proper, read the Brand Guidelines. In case you still need help after reading it, you can check with Reddit’s licensing team: licensing@reddit.com.
Communicate with Reddit’s Media Partnerships team — This starts from pre-debut and continues through post-debut
The team helps publishers with almost everything to do with the platform, from profiles to AMAs. AMAs are Q&A sessions on Reddit, also called Ask Me Anything, which I will talk more about later on.
We found all the linked resources on the Partnerships page super helpful, and we were lucky to get support from two managers from the team, Gabriel Sands and Anna Kim. In addition, the “Resources” section on the page directs you to various email inquiries depending on what kind of help you look for.
Next week, I will show you how to use CrowdTangle, a powerful tool to monitor and spot trending conversation on Reddit. If you have any questions or thoughts, comment under my post. I appreciate any insightful feedback, sincere appreciation and constructive criticism.
