Are teenagers still the predominant demography of Reddit?

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/1hn8su3/are_teenagers_still_the_predominant_demography_of/

created by highspeed_steel on 27/12/2024 at 06:24 UTC

41 upvotes, 22 top-level comments (showing 22)

I feel llike there's two things that I'm seeing here on Reddit. One is that a lot of the users here are supposed to be edgy 14 year olds or something, but also a lot of anecdotes and stories here seem to suggests that a pretty huge chunk of Redditors are in their 20s and 30s, and not teenagers. Provided these 20 and 30 year olds are probably the terminally online type that came of age in the 2000's internet, but its still different from today's teenager. What do you all think?

Comments

Comment by epictetvs at 27/12/2024 at 14:11 UTC

124 upvotes, 4 direct replies

People here are pulling sources with actual numbers so here is some anecdotal evidence.

I’m a high school teacher. No kid in the school uses Reddit, and I see what they are on all day long. At the beginning of the year when I said I loved Reddit they all started giggling. Why? It turns out they associate Reddit with porn.

Comment by Buck_Thorn at 27/12/2024 at 13:31 UTC

27 upvotes, 1 direct replies

18 to 29 year olds 44% According to this site

30 to 49 year olds 31%

50 to 64 year olds 11%

65+ year olds 3%

(I'm in the 3% group)

Comment by percypersimmon at 27/12/2024 at 06:51 UTC

50 upvotes, 2 direct replies

This is a tale as old as time on the internet.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September

Comment by redonculous at 27/12/2024 at 08:09 UTC

81 upvotes, 2 direct replies

No. It’s men in their 30-50s

Comment by sareuhbelle at 27/12/2024 at 10:01 UTC

38 upvotes, 7 direct replies

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but were teenagers *ever* the primary demographic?

Comment by dingoes_everywhere at 27/12/2024 at 15:00 UTC

9 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Anecdata, but in the news subs whenever there's talk of a mobile phone ban in schools, it's always a landslide for the ban. That couldn't be the kids. My headcanon is that Reddit must be full of bored schoolteachers.

Comment by nemo_sum at 27/12/2024 at 22:35 UTC

7 upvotes, 0 direct replies

pretty sure the demo is and has always been adult male tech workers

Comment by xpdx at 28/12/2024 at 02:24 UTC

6 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Some of us are edgy 50 year olds.

Comment by Fantastic_Yak3761 at 27/12/2024 at 11:51 UTC

11 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I highly doubt it. That demographic is more into bite sized visual media like Instagram and TikTok. Reddit feels more old school, almost more like a BBS (dating myself with that reference.)

Comment by ShiroiTora at 27/12/2024 at 06:37 UTC

15 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Depends on the subreddit, but yes, it does feel a good portion of them are teenagers. Some users have said they are 9 to 12 year olds (an edgy fandom subreddit, I noped out pretty quickly).

This became a lot more noticeable during lockdowns and we were stuck in summer reddit a couple years. Nowadays, it seems some school permit students using their phones in class so I don’t think the demographics ever fully reverted.

Comment by WellWellWellthennow at 27/12/2024 at 14:44 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Well this would explain the large number of immature comments I come across here.

Comment by deltree711 at 28/12/2024 at 00:25 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Wait, what? When were teenagers the predominant demographic of reddit?

Comment by ucantharmagoodwoman at 29/12/2024 at 17:51 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

My kids, 21, 18, and 16, make fun of me for using it.

Comment by nvmbernine at 27/12/2024 at 08:19 UTC*

8 upvotes, 3 direct replies

Simply put, no!

Analysis of over 5,000 Redditors found that a users average age is 23 years old.

As of 2024, there are over 500 million Reddit accounts.

r/funny is the most popular subreddit (56.6 million subscribers).

44% of US Redditors are aged 18 to 29 years old.

30 to 49 year olds - 31%.

50 to 64 year olds - 11%.

65+ year olds - 3%.

With a remaining 12% of US redditors unaccounted for in this data set, that would put the percentage of teenagers under 18 in the third lowest percentile.

source.

Comment by lisajeanius at 27/12/2024 at 14:40 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

While you are analyzing Reddit take note of the lack of info. What they are not showing or allowing to be shown. Anything to do with voting is a good example and anything to do with unity is another.

Also take note of the wording of the titles. Subs like r/BoomersBeingFools will use NLP while other subs like, r/redscarepod will not.

Another thing to note is where users tend to post. Trolls will tend to stay to the subs with the most people because trolls stick together. While the smaller subs will see fewer gangs of trolls the larger ones will form a killing circle around the nonconforming. None of them are ever removed.

Also pay attention to the Karma. Trolls will use Reddit's 'Karma Threshold" to silence users. The less Karma a comment, post, or user has the more likely foreign enemy agents have targeted them.

Trolls or foreign enemy agents will gang up on the outspoken to shut the entire post down. Why they don't remove the trolls instead is a good sign of who runs the subs.

Trolls don't last long. Trolls usually have a newer account. Inevitably each troll gets blocked by everyone they are targeting and needs a new profile.

Remember these mods and admin are unpaid, unknown, unseen, untrained, and unsupervised with 1984 powers.

Comment by Gootangus at 27/12/2024 at 18:27 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

People… age

Comment by lazydictionary at 28/12/2024 at 00:46 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Reddit has never been predominantly teenagers. It's always been college age to young professional aged heavy, never teenagers.

Teenagers do exist, but they are a minority.

Comment by Help12309876 at 28/12/2024 at 09:11 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Damn I'm an older teenager and I'm not gonna lie I'm shocked seeing some of these comments. I thought there were a lot more teenagers on here lol

Comment by [deleted] at 28/12/2024 at 22:16 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

All the old forums disappeared and communities migrated to Reddit, so it's primarily millennials and older Gen Z.

Comment by PaigeMarieSara at 30/12/2024 at 03:19 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Lots of kids who *think* they’re edgy.

Comment by Ill-Team-3491 at 30/12/2024 at 20:47 UTC

1 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Reddit seems to be the site were people come to gawk at the oddities. Now do those users count as redditors. It seems they don't consider themselves such. A bit of a strange phenomenon.

Comment by jcjakec at 27/12/2024 at 14:22 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

You're onto something—Reddit's demographic has definitely aged over time. While teenagers are still present, the majority of active users today are reportedly in their **20s and 30s**. Many people who joined Reddit in its earlier days stuck around, and newer adult users have also joined the mix.

Teenagers do contribute to the "edgy" vibe in some subs, but the platform has evolved into a space where professionals, hobbyists, and older millennials also spend time. Different subreddits naturally attract different age groups, but overall, Reddit isn’t just a teenage hangout anymore—it’s more of a mix.