What Librarians Can Learn from Reddit

Everybody knows that Reddit is an excellent source for random interesting content. This morning, for example, Reddit’s front page included a photo of a ring made from dinosaur bone, meteorite, and gold; a video of a dog walking in a new pair of dog boots; and a Q&A with a brain researcher who specializes in social interactions. But here’s some good news for the workplace Reddit readers out there: A recent College & Research Libraries News article called “We’ve Reddit, Have You?” proposes how Reddit might be useful to librarians. Like, for our work. You’ll want to keep this article close. The authors advocate that library staff NOT attempt to market library services via Reddit. Instead they suggest that library folks look to Reddit for insight into how to market their services elsewhere. Because the site is built around user voting, it can provide clues into successful strategies for presenting content and can highlight themes that resonate with users. The article makes some observations about the broad culture of the site as well, which may be interesting to a library audience. In many ways, Reddit communication guidelines mirror the scholarly communication process. Value is placed on high quality information over opinions. Citing sources, specifically primary sources, is required. Well-crafted written communication is encouraged and rewarded. Reddit users may venture into libraries knowing and valuing information literacy skills learned on Reddit. So the next time a library user responds positively to your measure of library collections in the scale of bananas, you’ll know they’re a Redditor and you can raise your expectations accordingly.