Gallery: An Interactive Map That Makes Sense of Reddit's Sprawl
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Dr. Zachary Neal and Randy Olson, two researchers from Michigan State University, created [Redditviz](http://rhiever.github.io/redditviz/), an interactive map of the sprawling community. *Image: Redditviz*
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Type in “Star Wars” and you’ll see other flourishing subreddits of a similar stripe: Batman, comic books, LEGO, Star Trek, cosplay. If you like “engineering porn,” you might also like “Artisan videos,” “Ask Engineers,” “CNC,” “Machine porn,” and “metalworking.” *Image: Redditviz*
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"I concluded that one of the major design flaws in Reddit is that it does not easily facilitate new users finding the smaller, more specific subreddits that are better suited to their interests than the generic, default subreddits," says Olson. *Image: Redditviz*
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The researchers relied on 8 months of user data; when people posted at a certain frequency in two different subreddits, they were linked on the map. *Image: Redditviz*
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The resulting map proves that Reddit isn’t a “single, homogenous entity like the news articles often portray it,” Olson says. *Image: Redditviz*
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There is, Olson admits, an “enormous porn cluster”—and also a sizable, tight-knit one dedicated to My Little Pony—but there’s also hives of activity around music production, beer crafting, LGBT rights, hollywood starlets and current events. Not that scummy after all. *Image: Redditviz*
