[timrosenblatt]

Given that you created your HN account 4 minutes ago, I'm going to give you a quick answer. If this is a real question and you post a more detailed question, I'm happy to give you more info.

Reddit is an entertainment site for me. Funny gifs, videos, etc.

HN is more about tech and the industry.

[veryluckyxyz]

Thank you for your response. It is a real question. I am a passive reader for over 2 years (not in tech, not in media, not very opinionated. Just trying to learn from others' wisdom). I have never read anything on reddit directly. The news of sama leading a $ 50 M made me wonder about the differences. And this is the only place I know to ask. Apologies for the wrong signal I sent by creating an account and immediately asking the question. Thanks again for your response!

[timrosenblatt]

It's ok. Sometimes people just post garbage or spam, which is why new accounts are displayed in green, so we know to be cautious :)

Reddit is more of a general-audience kind of thing. It's like CNN or BuzzFeed, but the key difference is that anyone can go in and create a new group ("subreddit") to discuss whatever they want (hence the value of the community, and the potential for advertising & marketing). This ad-marketing potential is likely what's causing people to put money in.

To me, HN could be thought of as a single subreddit focused on tech-startup-business. I see political things and other non-tech-startup-business things on here sometimes, but that doesn't appear to be the priority.

[coralreef]

About 30 seconds on the homepage of Reddit will tell you exactly how its different from HN.