How to Use Reddit to go Viral on YouTube

Reddit has a ton of content that has already gone viral. Here's how you can use it to make viral videos.

Author

Kong Pham
May 16, 2024

Imagine having a crystal ball that shows you exactly what kind of content will capture an audience's attention…

Reddit is that crystal ball.

Thanks Reddit’s upvote system, the cream of the crop rises to the top, giving you QUANTIFIABLE DATA on what resonates with millions of users.

By leveraging Reddit's treasure trove of top-rated content, you can easily create viral YouTube channels in various ways.

This approach not only RIDICULOUSLY EASY to come up with viral channel concepts but also ensures you have an endless supply of episode ideas as well.

Let’s look at some examples of YouTube channels that have successfully tapped into this Reddit goldmine:

  • OKOP reads the best posts from subreddits like r/TIFU (today I f***ed up), and gives comedic commentary on it

    • Fun fact: Sam (one of the hosts) used to be an intern at Jumpcut!

  • Charlotte Dobre reads stories from r/AmItheAsshole and gives her take on it

  • Mr. Creeps is a faceless YouTube channel where the narrator narrates creepy stores from r/NoSleep 

  • rSlash just reads the best posts from various subreddits with very little commentary and also doesn’t even show his face

Idea #1: Reacting to Top Posts

You can remix what other channels have done and react to the best posts. How will yours be different? You can try adding humor, empathy, or expert analysis (depending on what your strenghths are).

The subreddit you react to doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s popular, you’ll have a high chance of success.

Here’s a list of the most popular subreddits. You’re welcome.

Pro tip: if you choose a subreddit that usually has longer posts, you’ll get more watch time on your YT video.

Idea #2: Narrate scary, weird, or interesting stories

/r/NoSleep is a subreddit dedicated to horror stories and creepy encounters. You can create a YouTube channel that narrates these stories with dramatic flair, or analyze and discuss them.

How you will be different: use a captivating voice, sound effects, and eerie music to bring these stories to life. You can potentially also have friends come in and read the dialogue of different people.

The benefit of this style of content is that it’s actually PREFERABLE that you are not on camera (the draw of these stories is that the reader/listener is mainly using their imagination).

Here’s a list of popular story subreddits that you can choose from.

Idea #3: Solving Mysteries

/r/UnresolvedMysteries is a subreddit that discusses unsolved mysteries, disappearances, and other enigmas. This subreddit can provide fascinating content for a YouTube channel focused on true crime and mysteries.

Visit Reddit.com/r/unresolvedmysteries and pick the most intriguing unsolved cases. Then, conduct additional research to provide a comprehensive view of the mystery, and present it in a compelling video format.

You can also engage with your audience by inviting them to share their theories and opinions in the comments.

Idea #4: Life Hacks

You know… I once produced a viral channel called Hacks of Life and it was extremely fun. However, it was very difficult to come up with the hacks and write the script.

Luckily, you can now copy what I did and use reddit/AI to just do everything for you.

/r/LifeProTips is a subreddit where users share practical tips and tricks for everyday life. You can create a channel that compiles, tests, and showcases these tips.

If you want to get a little crazy, you can also use r/UnethicalLifeProTips.

Idea #5 (bonus): Use Comments!

Once you know what post you’re going to use for your video, make sure you look at the top comments for opinions, jokes, and hot takes.

Again, the upvote system gives you clear, quantifiable data on which comments resonate the best with the audience - you can use this as inspiration when crafting your own script/opinion/jokes.

-Kong