Is a hot dog a sandwich? Does Superman’s costume look better with or without trunks? Reddit is full of opinions, and today the front page of the internet is launching a new way to share those thoughts: Polls. The new post format aims to provide a new way to interact without posting a comment.
Polls are a new post type that allows users to ask a question with up to six potential answers. The user also sets a deadline for the poll to finish, but polls cannot be open for longer than one week. The new post type is available for all communities except those that are designated as text-only (such as the r/AskReddit).
“Reddit’s content and community ecosystem is vast, so we know it’s important to provide different ways for people to interact with one another,” Tyler Swartz, a Reddit senior product manager, said in a statement. “Our hope in launching Polls is to provide an easy entry point for new users by removing the barrier of posting and giving people the option to weigh in and contribute to their favorite communities via a simple vote. In addition, users have the ability to comment on a Poll and we are excited to see the spirited conversation take place.”
The new post format rolls out after successful testing, including asking users who would win Super Bowl LIV. That post received 9,100 votes, which Reddit says is about five times more engagement than the average u/NFL post.
Users can still comment on a Reddit poll, as well as sharing and saving the poll.
How to create a poll in Reddit
To create a Reddit Poll, inside the community, click on the “create a post” option. From the different tabs, choose Poll. Fill in the title and add the question to the text field, Then, fill in the different answers in the options fields, using the “add option” to add more. Use the voting length drop-down box to set the length of time the poll will remain open.
Reddit says polls cannot be edited once published.
Beginning today, Polls are active for all Reddit communities (except text-only communities) and any user can create a poll or vote in one.
