The "PFC Bubble" = Some facts on the demographics of Reddit Users in Canada

[zelisky]

Inspired by a post from @faithwillnotfail (link to original post), I thought it would be helpful, given that I'm a marketer who licenses research (updated quarterly) on Canadians and their media usage, for PFC subscribers to understand the demographics of Reddit users in Canada. TLDR at the bottom.

• They are 58.4% male (skewing 16% more likely to be male than the total population)
• 61.7% are between 16-34 (so definitely skewing much younger, which is common of social platforms)
• 52% live in urban areas, 35% in suburban areas - only 13% live in rural (so rural is under represented by Reddit users)
• 45.9% are single (this is 32% higher than Canadian average, but also indicative of a younger audience), 28.2% are married, 20.4% are in a relationship
• 42% live with their partner (about 1/5 less than the Canadian average) -- 26.9% live with their parents (nearly 60% higher than average), 17.2% with other family, 10.3% with a roommate -- again, this is largely due to the younger skew of Reddit users
• Not overly skewing to high or low household income (HHI) - roughly one third (35.2%) have a household income over $80k, and one third (34.1%) have a household income under $50k -- they do skew slightly to the lowest HHI ($30k or less) and extremely affluent ($200k) and slightly under-represent Canadians with a HHI between $80k-200k

Their Household Income breakdown (keep in mind this is not salary but combined household income):

Stated Household Income
% of Reddit Canada Visitors

$20k or less
10.8%

$20-30k
8.7%

$30-40k
7.3%

$40-50k
7.3%

$50-60k
9.2%

$60-70k
6.5%

$70-80k
6.8%

$80-100k
11%

$100-125k
9.5%

$125-165k
7.6%

$165-200k
3.3%

$200k or more
3.8%

Don't know / prefer not to say
8.2%

Source: GlobalWebIndex, Online Canadians 16-64 who visited Reddit.com at least once in the past month, using Q1 2020 and Q2 2020 survey (n=2k); this is from a base of 9.7k Canadian 16-64 respondents.

Caveats:

• Baseline (from which indexing is derived) is adults 16-64 who are online. This does skew the data (since the people with the lowest HHI are least likely to be online) however amongst Canadians under 64, non-internet users is estimated to be

 

[shetel]

@zelisky

So, if you're wealthy, or struggling

Or even if you're wealthy and struggling! There's no shame in having money, not managing it well, and coming here for help. Being at peace with your money is about having "enough", and no number on its own can guarantee you that.

 

[polly%EF%BC%81]

@zelisky Reddit is a lot less male than I thought.

 

[greengrace]

@polly%EF%BC%81 I'm sure you're not the only one to make that assumption. Women on reddit don't tend to advertise the fact that they are female (either purposely to avoid harrassment, or passively because it's just not relevant to the sub/topic at hand) and many people just assume that male is the "default" when they have no evidence to the contrary (not blaming anyone for this, I do it too!). But we're out here!

 

[ama1]

@greengrace Even given the context, I was still surprised by your last sentence. Face palm

 

[linearw]

@greengrace Yup, you hit the nail on the head about most of us just not mentioning it.

To Reddit’s credit though, I get far less DM inquiries after mentioning I’m a female compared to when I mention something else personal alike working in HR, I usually get a couple asking for advice or just curious about the work.

 

[greengrace]

@linearw I’ve actually never had anyone slide into my DMs after finding out I’m a woman...until today, because of this post :|

 

[stevemartin92]

@linearw Honestly I don't know anyone who has ever worked in HR so it seems very interesting, no doubt people are curious.

 

[urbanp]

@greengrace Just like how I always used to assume everyone on LiveJournal was a woman until informed otherwise.

 

[derealized]

@urbanp Oh hey, another LJer! Same here... I think in a lot of fandoms just mentioning that you were male would guarantee people friending you because there were so few.

 

[urbanp]

@derealized Lol yeah

 

[chingwauk]

@greengrace Great post, dude.

/s

 

[resjudicata]

@greengrace I think the demographics have shifted bigly in the last 3 or 4 years. Reddit used to be heavily male, I think it is less so now.

 

[allart]

@resjudicata The results of the survey also don't tell much about who actively participates to the sub.

 

[adosdall]

@greengrace This is even more evident on any investing or trading subreddits. Altho there does seem to be less women on there. Would be curious of stats.

 

[wilsonhew]

@greengrace

many people just assume that male is the "default" when they have no evidence to the contrary

I just know way more dudes who want to bother wasting time on sites like this. Definitely doesn't make it an accurate assumption.

 

[grovegirl1985]

@greengrace Woah you’re a woman? can I get your number?

 

[crazy950]

@greengrace

Women on reddit don't tend to advertise the fact that they are female

I didn't find this to be true

Not just Reddit, but also YouTube and elsewhere: I find female posters are much more likely to advertise their gender (directly or indirectly) on their username.

Many times when you see someone make an interesting post, you can check one's post history to confirm your suspicions.

PFC is no exception.

PS: this is not just true for gender....I find it's also true for sociopolitical views

PPS: I'm also fascinated by how much correlation there is between gender vs one's writing style.

Here's a tip: check out some subs that are 99% male. Observe how they talk. And then check out some subs that are 99% female.

Notice the diff? It's not obvious in PF subs, usually.

 

[skreiaberg]

@crazy950 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

How exactly do you know that the posters who aren't "advertising their gender" are not female?

 

[crazy950]

@skreiaberg There is no scientific study to prove or disprove what I said (as far as I know). And I didn't claim otherwise.

It's just my observation.

Just like others are doing ITT.