Reddit on Tuesday announced a new feature that will offer its users more privacy when it comes to what’s shared on their user profiles.
The company says it’s rolling out an update that will introduce a “Content and Activity” setting that allows users to decide which content from the subreddits they participate in will appear on their profiles. This includes both their posting and commenting history.
By default, all posts and comments will remain visible, as before. However, the new setting allows users to hide all their public posts and comments, including those made directly on their profiles.
Alternately, users can decide to selectively display posts and comments from specific communities on their profile, while keeping others hidden.
The setting is available under a new “Curate your profile” section, where users can control their content’s visibility. An option to toggle on or off NSFW content and activity is also available, as is a Followers toggle to show or hide follower count.
The update adds a layer of privacy to Reddit that wasn’t previously available.
Previously, many Reddit users created “throwaway” accounts when they wanted to ask more personal questions. But as Reddit morphs into more of an ad-focused tech company post-IPO, it likely prefers that user data — like engagement and interests — remains associated with a single user profile for better ad targeting.
The feature’s addition could also encourage users to participate more on the site, as they’ll now know that they can somewhat obscure their activity from public view.
For example, users may want to chime in or ask questions about a topic of a more sensitive nature, like relationship or dating advice, or a health issue they’re facing. Before, they may have chosen to just read through others’ posts but not engage directly in order to keep the information from displaying on their own user profiles.
Reddit says that the option to hide or display posts and comments is available only on a per-community basis, not at the individual post or comment level. That makes the settings easier to manage, even if it means you can’t pick and choose which specific comments and posts show up and which don’t.
Still, users should know that the curation option doesn’t mean they have true privacy. Their username will still appear next to their posts and comments in the communities themselves. Plus, some moderators will still have access to a user’s public post and comment history for 28 days, regardless of the user’s content visibility settings, Reddit says.
This access is helpful to moderators who may need to review a user’s history when they post or comment, as well as when they send modmail, like join requests, or requests to join a restricted community.
Profile owners will also be able to temporarily see a user’s full post and comment history if another user comments directly on their profile post, the company notes.
Alongside this change, Reddit introduced updated personal activity summaries, which provide an overview of a user’s activity, including their Karma count, total contributions, account age, and active communities. The latter will be based on their Content and activity settings.
