# Subreddit Links Drive Community Creation and User Engagement on Reddit

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.10155 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.10155/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 18 Mar 2022.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Towards Fair Graph Anomaly Detection: Problem, Benchmark Datasets, and Evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.15988/) (2024)
- [Leveraging Machine Learning to Identify Gendered Stereotypes and Body Image Concerns on Diet and Fitness Online Forums](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.03551/) (2024)
- [Digital Gatekeepers: Google's Role in Curating Hashtags and Subreddits](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.14370/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

On Reddit, individual subreddits are used to organize content and connect users. One mode of interaction is the subreddit link, which occurs when a user makes a direct reference to a subreddit in another community. Based on the ubiquity of these references, we have undertaken a study on subreddit links on Reddit, with the goal of understanding their impact on both the referenced subreddit, and on the subreddit landscape as a whole. By way of an extensive observational study along with several natural experiments using the entire history of Reddit, we were able to determine that (1) subreddit links are a significant driver of new suberddit creation; (2) subreddit links (2a) substantially drive activity in the referenced subreddit, and (2b) are frequently created in response to high levels of activity in the referenced subreddit; and (3) the graph of subreddit links has become less dense and more treelike over time. We conclude with a discussion of how these results confirm, add to, and in some cases conflict with existing theories on information-seeking behavior and self-organizing behavior in online social systems.