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The top 200 subreddits, categorized

Using information gathered from stattit.com, douglasmacarthur arranged the top 200 subreddits into 14 categories.

 

Mike Fenn

Internet Culture

Posted on May 29, 2013   Updated on Jun 1, 2021, 2:45 pm CDT

Redditor douglasmacarthur studied the top 200 most active communities on Reddit and decided that categorization was necessary. On May 29, he posted his project to r/TheoryOfReddit, a community designed to study and discuss the site.

“While observing how much difficulty moderators of large subreddits have directing users towards the appropriate ones, I concluded that one of the major reasons for this is the difficulty new users have accessing info on non-default subreddits. reddit.com/reddits[1] is tedious to go deep into,” douglasmacarthur explained in a comment.

Using information gathered from stattit.com, douglasmacarthur arranged the top 200 subreddits into 14 categories. He plans to expand the project to the site’s top 500 communities and break down the categories even further.

He omitted pornographic subreddits from the list but, when asked, compiled them into an offsite post. The list is topped by the NSFW subreddit r/gonewild, which is the 20th most active community on the site.

Many of the most active subreddits fall into the “Entertainment” realm, which douglasmacarthur has broken into the sub-categories of “Gaming,” “Television,” and “Other (Movies/Music/Franchises/Misc.).” The most active subreddit on the site, r/pics, is one of many in the “Images, GIFs, and videos” category.

The “Places” and “Race, Gender and Identity” categories in douglasmacarthur’s list, on the other hand, boast the fewest number of active subreddits. In fact, none of the top 10 most active subreddits are found in either category.

Redditors in the thread shared their thoughts on specific points showcased by douglasmacarthur’s newly-created categorization.

“This is a great start. As a relatively new user, many of these subreddits were unknown to me, and as you said, sorting through the lesser-known subreddits can be a hassle. Thanks for working on this,” Lhopital_rules commented.

“Cool to see r/android is the first big technology subreddit after the obvious r/technology,” emohipster commented.

Redditor q9rtn took it a step further and made multireddits out of the subreddits listed in each of the 14 categories.

Here’s the list:

Discussion and Stories

5 – /r/AskReddit[2] – 3461705

9 – /r/IAmA[3] – 3190151

19 – /r/bestof[4] – 2599694

68 – /r/fatpeoplestories[5] – 16648

91 – /r/pettyrevenge[6] – 51801

148 – /r/TalesFromRetail[7] – 47377

149 – /r/DoesAnybodyElse[8] – 173483

192 – /r/CrazyIdeas[9] – 60228

Emotional Reaction Fuel

11 – /r/WTF[10] – 3134518

12 – /r/aww[11] – 2419136

22 – /r/cringepics[12] – 158575

57 – /r/cringe[13] – 151756

69 – /r/JusticePorn[14] – 174699

78 – /r/MorbidReality[15] – 75074

106 – /r/rage[16] – 37011

118 – /r/mildlyinfuriating[17] – 43302

123 – /r/creepy[18] – 132245

129 – /r/creepyPMs[19] – 60100

165 – /r/nosleep[20] – 142491

166 – /r/nostalgia[21] – 58011

Entertainment – Gaming

4 – /r/gaming[22] – 3100154

21 – /r/leagueoflegends[23] – 270625

25 – /r/pokemon[24] – 219930

27 – /r/Minecraft[25] – 315636

34 – /r/starcraft[26] – 144319

39 – /r/Games[27] – 276107

41 – /r/DotA2[28] – 77195

51 – /r/skyrim[29] – 175101

74 – /r/tf2[30] – 103199

82 – /r/magicTCG[31] – 55621

94 – /r/wow[32] – 89739

92 – /r/KerbalSpaceProgram[33] – 23993

97 – /r/mindcrack[34] – 21174

111 – /r/Fallout[35] – 65770

112 – /r/roosterteeth[36] – 28020

119 – /r/Planetside[37] – 27712

145 – /r/gamegrumps[38] – 24787

169 – /r/battlefield3[39] – 67016

170 – /r/zelda[40] – 75121

178 – /r/darksouls[41] – 30284

180 – /r/masseffect[42] – 46534

Entertainment – Television

38 – /r/arresteddevelopment[43] – 77646

42 – /r/gameofthrones[44] – 186686

46 – /r/doctorwho[45] – 148358

53 – /r/mylittlepony[46] – 57794

83 – /r/community[47] – 109683

98 – /r/breakingbad[48] – 130083

133 – /r/adventuretime[49] – 94134

135 – /r/startrek[50] – 53794

147 – /r/TheSimpsons[51] – 45511

157 – /r/futurama[52] – 77052

175 – /r/HIMYM[53] – 64964

183 – /r/DunderMifflin[54] – 28362

198 – /r/thewalkingdead[55] – 118034

Entertainment – Other (Movies/Music/Franchies/Misc)

17 – /r/Music[56] – 2536972

18 – /r/movies[57] – 2570277

66 – /r/harrypotter[58] – 100416

88 – /r/StarWars[59] – 106390

96 – /r/DaftPunk[60] – 15455

100 – /r/hiphopheads[61] – 79629

104 – /r/anime[62] – 98526

114 – /r/comicbooks[63] – 66987

117 – /r/geek[64] – 215027

124 – /r/batman[65] – 67069

122 – /r/TheLastAirbender[66] – 69866

173 – /r/Naruto[67] – 22843

197 – /r/FanTheories[68] – 57189

Humor

2 – /r/funny[69] – 3713299

15 – /r/AdviceAnimals[70] – 2433974

29 – /r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu[71] – 604019

30 – /r/4chan[72] – 306013

32 – /r/ImGoingToHellForThis[73] – 227895

49 – /r/firstworldanarchists[74] – 124776

40 – /r/circlejerk[75] – 155080

47 – /r/MURICA[76] – 83471

56 – /r/facepalm[77] – 187966

60 – /r/Jokes[78] – 204780

80 – /r/wheredidthesodago[79] – 175185

89 – /r/polandball[80] – 17692

90 – /r/TrollXChromosomes[81] – 30491

101 – /r/comics[82] – 274308

115 – /r/nottheonion[83] – 126590

116 – /r/britishproblems[84] – 37395

132 – /r/TumblrInAction[85] – 19588

194 – /r/onetruegod[86] – 44657

Images, Gifs, and Videos

1 – /r/pics[87] – 3634681

8 – /r/videos[88] – 3031649

24 – /r/gifs[89] – 595120

26 – /r/reactiongifs[90] – 218792

28 – /r/mildlyinteresting[91] – 295944

36 – /r/woahdude[92] – 290339

52 – /r/FiftyFifty[93] – 78525

70 – /r/FoodPorn[94] – 164008

73 – /r/HistoryPorn[95] – 158322

77 – /r/wallpapers[96] – 174571

87 – /r/youtubehaiku[97] – 56673

95 – /r/Unexpected[98] – 13931

102 – /r/photoshopbattles[99] – 142871

110 – /r/AnimalsBeingJerks[100] – 53136

113 – /r/cosplay[101] – 50802

125 – /r/EarthPorn[102] – 256905

136 – /r/QuotesPorn[103] – 118293

137 – /r/awwnime[104] – 9542

141 – /r/AbandonedPorn[105] – 120870

142 – /r/carporn[106] – 41647

152 – /r/PerfectTiming[107] – 90112

158 – /r/OldSchoolCool[108] – 68209

167 – /r/RoomPorn[109] – 119766

168 – /r/Pareidolia[110] – 39508

171 – /r/MapPorn[111] – 78752

174 – /r/tumblr[112] – 13778

188 – /r/techsupportgore[113] – 38689

189 – /r/PrettyGirls[114] – 43348

191 – /r/itookapicture[115] – 87200

Learning and Thinking

10 – /r/todayilearned[116] – 3319855

16 – /r/science[117] – 3238039

86 – /r/askscience[118] – 731188

107 – /r/space[119] – 225218

130 – /r/AskHistorians[120] – 136463

151 – /r/YouShouldKnow[121] – 238917

163 – /r/explainlikeimfive[122] – 277819

Lifestyle and Help

23 – /r/trees[123] – 452252

37 – /r/MakeupAddiction[124] – 63647

44 – /r/cats[125] – 119186

55 – /r/LifeProTips[126] – 476370

62 – /r/RedditLaqueristas[127] – 31609

63 – /r/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon[128] – 11644

76 – /r/food[129] – 260011

81 – /r/guns[130] – 123161

72 – /r/tattoos[131] – 163141

93 – /r/corgi[132] – 40194

105 – /r/teenagers[133] – 26462

108 – /r/GetMotivated[134] – 192713

126 – /r/motorcycles[135] – 57436

127 – /r/sex[136] – 302021

134 – /r/progresspics[137] – 37583

138 – /r/DIY[138] – 277714

140 – /r/bicycling[139] – 82184

144 – /r/Fitness[140] – 317421

155 – /r/lifehacks[141] – 143162

159 – /r/longboarding[142] – 25985

172 – /r/Frugal[143] – 265112

176 – /r/drunk[144] – 63431

182 – /r/Art[145] – 140390

190 – /r/loseit[146] – 141957

196 – /r/Military[147] – 35379

News and Issues

3 – /r/politics[148] – 2859635

6 – /r/worldnews[149] – 3310493

7 – /r/news[150] – 464047

54 – /r/conspiracy[151] – 139041

156 – /r/Libertarian[152] – 85781

153 – /r/TrueReddit[153] – 214896

164 – /r/Conservative[154] – 22742

186 – /r/offbeat[155] – 261958

Places

120 – /r/canada[156] – 103318

154 – /r/toronto[157] – 26682

160 – /r/australia[158] – 43056

184 – /r/unitedkingdom[159] – 49052

Race, Gender, and Identity

13 – /r/atheism[160] – 1948012

128 – /r/TwoXChromosomes[161] – 136301

131 – /r/MensRights[162] – 68895

181 – /r/gaybros[163] – 24748

199 – /r/lgbt[164] – 69197

Sports

45 – /r/nba[165] – 98103

50 – /r/soccer[166] – 118466

59 – /r/hockey[167] – 78226

65 – /r/nfl[168] – 156987

67 – /r/formula1[169] – 28492

99 – /r/baseball[170] – 55587

150 – /r/MMA[171] – 47894

177 – /r/SquaredCircle[172] – 18010

Technology

14 – /r/technology[173] – 3000439

64 – /r/Android[174] – 261309

162 – /r/Bitcoin[175] – 40127

185 – /r/programming[176] – 439496

187 – /r/apple[177] – 143865

 


 

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*First Published: May 29, 2013, 9:35 am CDT