Reddit Introduces New Privacy Controls for User Profiles

Reddit has unveiled a significant update to its user profile privacy settings, introducing a “Content and Activity” feature that gives users greater control over what content appears on their profiles. This marks a shift towards enhanced user privacy on the platform, which has historically displayed all posts and comments publicly by default.

With this new setting, users can choose to hide all their public posts and comments or selectively display content from specific subreddits. This selective visibility is managed on a per-community basis rather than at the individual post or comment level, simplifying content curation while still offering meaningful control.

This update is housed under a new “Curate your profile” section, where users can also toggle visibility of NSFW content and follower counts. These options provide further customization, allowing users to tailor their profile’s public appearance to their comfort level.

Why does this matter? Previously, many Reddit users resorted to creating “throwaway” accounts to ask sensitive or personal questions without linking that activity to their main profiles. Now, with the ability to hide or curate content, users may feel more comfortable engaging openly on topics like health, relationships, or other private matters, potentially increasing overall participation.

However, it’s important to note that this feature does not provide complete anonymity. Usernames will still appear alongside posts and comments within subreddit communities. Additionally, subreddit moderators retain access to a user’s public post and comment history for 28 days regardless of profile visibility settings. This access supports moderation and community management functions.

Moreover, if another user comments directly on a profile post, the profile owner can temporarily view the full post and comment history of that user, adding a layer of transparency in direct interactions.

Alongside these privacy controls, Reddit has updated its personal activity summaries. These summaries provide users with an overview of their Karma, total contributions, account age, and active communities, reflecting the new content visibility settings. This helps users better understand and manage their presence on the platform.

Balancing Privacy and Community Engagement

Reddit’s new privacy settings reflect a broader industry trend toward giving users more control over their digital footprints. But the platform also needs to maintain transparency and moderation capabilities to keep communities safe and welcoming. This delicate balance is crucial as Reddit continues evolving into a more ad-driven company, where user data plays a key role in targeted advertising and platform growth.

For developers and platform operators, Reddit’s approach offers valuable lessons in privacy design: provide meaningful user control without compromising essential community functions. It also highlights the importance of clear communication about what privacy settings do and don’t protect, helping users make informed choices.

Looking Ahead

As Reddit users begin to adopt these new settings, it will be interesting to see how engagement patterns shift. Will more users feel empowered to participate openly? Will the platform’s ad targeting improve with more consistent user profiles? These questions underscore the evolving relationship between privacy, user behavior, and platform economics in social media.