Why is Reddit falling behind on memes?

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/1hyycxs/why_is_reddit_falling_behind_on_memes/

created by JabbaTheBassist on 11/01/2025 at 15:33 UTC

29 upvotes, 31 top-level comments (showing 25)

Nowadays it feels like every other social media platform has evolved its own meme styles and trends that they share with each other, with reddit being left in the dust. This contrasts a common sentiment held years ago (late 2010s to early 2020s) where reddit was seen as a kind of ‘trendsetter’ for memes, with platforms like twitter and instagram only popularising memes well after reddit had developed them.

Across Instagram (Reels), Tiktok, YouTube and Twitter/X, memes today generally follow what many call ‘post-irony’ or even ‘brainrot’. Some modern examples I see plastered all over these platforms are: Costco Guys, The Rizzler, Chopped Chin, Property in Egypt, Squid Game English Dub and Ninja’s Low Taper Fade. Exploring reddit’s biggest memes subreddits, theres a stark lack of these memes, as well as the general style of a whole.

Scrolling these subreddits by new posts feels like I’m back in 2018-2020. While some posts may mention current events (Luigi Mangione, Trump Election, California Fires) the formats and style used feels like it hasn’t evolved in 5 years.

I can chalk some of this down to the differences in how these different sites function: Short Form Algorithmic Content from Reels, TikTok and YT Shorts may lend itself to this content better, whereas Reddit’s subreddit-based image heavy content may not. That said, I would still expect memes from Reels and TikTok to ‘bleed over’ to Reddit, but this is not the case. You can find a few extremely small niche communities based around these memes and maybe 1-2 popular posts for each, but other than that they are rarely mentioned or posted about.

Comments

Comment by gogybo at 11/01/2025 at 16:43 UTC

129 upvotes, 3 direct replies

"Mainstream Reddit" (by which I mean the kinds of big subs that regularly show up on /r/all) is dead. The content is almost entirely screenshots or videos taken from Twitter or Tiktok and reposted by bots so there's no longer any big space where OC can get recognition and praise (outside of /r/comics).

Smaller subs still have plenty of user-generated content and memes but by their nature the audience is smaller so they don't get much traction.

Comment by payne6 at 12/01/2025 at 02:54 UTC

23 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Reddit isn’t falling behind Reddit was always taking memes from other places (specifically 4chan and tumblr) but now memes are viral sounds or trends on tiktok. It’s easier to view and do it on tiktok than it is on Reddit.

Plus idc what anyone says there was a massive purge of both shitty and niche subreddits back in 2020 and then the mod shut down last year about Apollo the website never fully recovered. Reddit just feels more dead than ever before. /r/worldnews is just pro US and pro Israel propaganda and the rest of the default subs just feel astroturfed to shit.

Comment by PopcornDrift at 11/01/2025 at 17:37 UTC

33 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I think Reddit’s user base is aging with the platform. now most people here are mid-late 20s and early 30s so we’re too old to be driving trends

Comment by Elven77AI at 12/01/2025 at 12:10 UTC

9 upvotes, 0 direct replies

You should not view Reddit as "top posts in mainstream subreddits", as these are posted to gather maximum karma and are using safe older formats and "widely-accepted" tropes for maximum reach.

The memes thrive in small subreddits and image comment threads, where experimental and novel forms/tropes are explored in-depth.

Comment by scantier at 11/01/2025 at 16:40 UTC

33 upvotes, 2 direct replies

Because reddit is the most astroturfed platform right now which makes people post less often. This place is entirely ran by shills

Comment by BlazeAlt at 11/01/2025 at 15:41 UTC

40 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Reddit has been falling behind. As you stated, viral content is now on short videos, be it TikTok, Instagram reels or Youtube shorts.

People still on Reddit are either older so a bit more disconnected from trendy memes, or repost bots farming karma.

By the way, if you have nice niche memes communities to share that would be nice, the general ones are indeed low quality nowadays.

Comment by Korovev at 11/01/2025 at 16:39 UTC

40 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I don’t see how a lack of brainrot memes on Reddit is a problem, if anything it’s an edge.

Comment by paoforprez at 11/01/2025 at 20:08 UTC

4 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I think the average age base of reddit is growing older, and other platforms have monopolized younger demographics who spearhead most memes

Comment by spezdrinkspiss at 11/01/2025 at 16:25 UTC

6 upvotes, 0 direct replies

it's not, it's just that like on any forum, general boards are boring crap while all fun is happening on niche-er communities

eg r/jujutsufolk literally birthed the entire lobotomy kaisen lore

Comment by Prof_Acorn at 11/01/2025 at 19:00 UTC

11 upvotes, 1 direct replies

Memes are stupid? This is a discussion forum, a spiritual successor to bbcode forums. It's obviously not going to be as ripe with drivel.

At a greater resolution, this is not the most uncommon perspective. I myself actively downvote memes on subs that I frequent, and the sub I moderate just bans them from the top down. Most of the best subs do.

So you have an active old guard who doesn't like them, and a system in place wherein the first reaction to a new post determines how it appears in the algorithm. If it takes too long to get a certain number of up votes it likely will never reach many people at all.

I'm going to guess a lot of the people who do like memes probably don't frequent /new.

The Knights of New is what we used to call it. The people who attend to new have greater sway as to what is seen than anyone else. If people who tend over new don't like memes then memes aren't going to do that well.

Comment by nl4real1 at 11/01/2025 at 23:52 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Reddit is mostly bots now. Granted, it was an aggregator to begin with, but any pretense of authenticity has been completely written off now that the site is mostly bots. Welcome to the dead internet. Only escape is to find an obscure message board for each of your hobbies that's somehow still active.

Comment by wonderful-art-1701 at 11/01/2025 at 23:53 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I think mainly for two reasons:

1. currently, short videos (tiktoks, reels, shorts) are the main type of media preferred and consumed by users, and reddit is not particularly good to post/host/browse that kind of content.

2. I feel like the redditors average age got up and this social is not anymore that somewhat edgy space that it was many years ago.

Comment by IAMACat_askmenothing at 12/01/2025 at 00:21 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I see memes start on Reddit All the time. My wife sent me a r/batmanarkham meme she saw on Facebook. Also r/anarchychess started the “Google en passant”

My point is, r/all is not a place where you’re gonna find much more than screenshots and TikTok’s. But if you go on the niche subs there’s still plenty of memes being made

Comment by Competitive_Song124 at 12/01/2025 at 08:16 UTC

3 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I don’t realise reddit was about memes

Comment by shipguy55 at 11/01/2025 at 22:01 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I see plenty of inside jokes pop up in specific subreddits still, they aren't memes because they are not general enough to be a meme. Still shows that reddit has a vibrant community with a large amount of creativity in certain pockets.

Comment by SupernovaTheGrey at 12/01/2025 at 13:04 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Because condenast aren't trend setters.

Comment by sega31098 at 13/01/2025 at 10:31 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I'm not sure if Reddit has ever been the biggest source of meme trends online. Except for a few things like r/wallstreetbets and "We did it, Reddit", it has always been kind of a place where people would repost and remix things from other places. In its early days it had a kind of 4chan-like culture and meme culture here would generally follow in its footsteps, though of course there was also a lot of original content generated. Nowadays with 4chan fading into irrelevance we see reposts from other sites like TikTok and Twitter (at least pre-Musk) where memes are born.

That said, Reddit has never been the place where memes go to die. That title belongs to Facebook.

Comment by ucantharmagoodwoman at 13/01/2025 at 20:57 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Reddit is for old people and bots, now. We are the ones who used to make the memes, and we've grown out of our edginess somewhat. Now we're just angry and worried about the political situation.

Comment by Wallitron_Prime at 15/01/2025 at 13:00 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

The biggest issue is this:

When Reddit removed the API apps and ensured power users were on *their* app, they dramatically reduced the ability for "taste-makers" to go through content at a quick rate.

Pull up the front page on the app and you'll probably see one or *maybe* two posts take up your entire screen. On Reddit is Fun that was 12 posts. Reddit changed overnight from being one of, if not *the* fastest way to consume content on the internet to one of the slowest.