Jan 9, 2014 9:30 AM

Gallery: Fascinating Graphs Show How Reddit Got Huge by Going Mainstream

01
redditwide
A detail of Randy Olson’s stacked area chart of reddit. Fuuuuuuu. *Image: Randy Olson*
02
SubredditGrowthOverTime-2006
Here's 2006. In the site's early days, Reddit.com was the main attraction, but in February they added the first topical subreddits. *Image: Randy Olson*

03
reddit2007
2007\. Nerd-friendly subreddits thrive. A celebrity-centric Lipstick.com section is replaced by r/entertainment. *Image: Randy Olson*
04
reddit2008
2008\. The year of Reddit's "Cambrian Explosion," as Olson puts it. Why? This was the first point Reddit allowed users to create their own subreddits. *Image: Randy Olson*

05
reddit2009
2009\. The subredditification continues. Olson's not sure what caused the /r/reddit.com spike in the middle of the year. *Image: Randy Olson*
06
reddit2010
2010\. Olson calls this "the year gamers and porn invaded," partially thanks to an influx of users from the then-recently-defunct Digg.com *Image: Randy Olson*

07
reddit2011
2011\. The year of the memes. Also the year mods pulled the plug on the catchall subreddit r/reddit.com. *Image: Randy Olson*
08
reddit2012
2012\. The Reddit of today, dominated by images and other more mainstream, accessible content. *Image: Randy Olson*

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