Reddit on Tuesday introduced a brand new function that may supply its customers extra privateness with regards to what’s shared on their person profiles.
The corporate says it’s rolling out an replace that may introduce a “Content and Activity” setting that permits customers to determine which content material from the subreddits they take part in will seem on their profiles. This consists of each their posting and commenting historical past.
By default, all posts and feedback will stay seen, as earlier than. Nevertheless, the brand new setting permits customers to cover all their public posts and feedback, together with these made immediately on their profiles.
Alternately, customers can determine to selectively show posts and feedback from particular communities on their profile, whereas retaining others hidden.
The setting is on the market underneath a brand new “Curate your profile” part, the place customers can management their content material’s visibility. An choice to toggle on or off NSFW content material and exercise can be accessible, as is a Followers toggle to point out or disguise follower rely.
The replace provides a layer of privateness to Reddit that wasn’t beforehand accessible.
Beforehand, many Reddit customers created “throwaway” accounts once they wished to ask extra private questions. However as Reddit morphs into extra of an ad-focused tech firm post-IPO, it probably prefers that person knowledge — like engagement and pursuits — stays related to a single person profile for higher advert concentrating on.
The function’s addition may additionally encourage customers to take part extra on the location, as they’ll now know that they’ll considerably obscure their exercise from public view.
For instance, customers could wish to chime in or ask questions on a subject of a extra delicate nature, like relationship or relationship recommendation, or a well being difficulty they’re dealing with. Earlier than, they could have chosen to only learn by others’ posts however not interact immediately with a purpose to preserve the knowledge from displaying on their very own person profiles.
Reddit says that the choice to cover or show posts and feedback is on the market solely on a per-community foundation, not on the particular person submit or remark stage. That makes the settings simpler to handle, even when it means you’ll be able to’t decide and select which particular feedback and posts present up and which don’t.
Nonetheless, customers ought to know that the curation choice doesn’t imply they’ve true privateness. Their username will nonetheless seem subsequent to their posts and feedback within the communities themselves. Plus, some moderators will nonetheless have entry to a person’s public submit and remark historical past for 28 days, whatever the person’s content material visibility settings, Reddit says.
This entry is useful to moderators who could have to assessment a person’s historical past once they submit or remark, in addition to once they ship “modmail,” like be part of requests, or requests to hitch a restricted group.
Profile homeowners will even be capable of briefly see a person’s full submit and remark historical past if one other person feedback immediately on their profile submit, the corporate notes.
Alongside this variation, Reddit launched up to date private exercise summaries, which offer an outline of a person’s exercise, together with their Karma rely, complete contributions, account age, and energetic communities. The latter will likely be based mostly on their Content material and exercise settings.
