On Wednesday, reddit – “The front page of the internet” – launched a new project, in hopes that it, “will enhance your experience on reddit, create stronger subreddit communities, allow redditors to collaborate and support each other, and empower redditors to make a difference.”¹ Essentially, the new project – dubbed redditmade – is a sort-of crowdfunding platform. u/highshelfofsteam went on to offer this brief description:

redditmade is a new place to turn the best designs and products by the community into reality. redditmade gives you the flexibility to create almost anything you want, easily raise money, and support causes you care about. It’s also a great way for others to find awesome new products they’ll love and support other redditors while knowing their information and money will always be secure.²

Though anyone can launch a redditmade campaign, this platform seems to aimed primarily at creating official subreddit merchandise. Again, anyone can lauch a campaign, but official campaigns are given preferential treatment:

Official subreddit campaigns are distinguished on redditmade as featured campaigns, and they can also receive complimentary ads on reddit for the subreddit they are associated with. These ads are a bonus provided if there are impressions available, but the number of views they get may vary, and we can’t guarantee they will be shown at all if a subreddit’s ad space has already been sold. These ads will be automatically generated by our system, so there is no additional work for you to do.³