Reddit Before the Subreddits Took Over

Reddit in November 2005 calls itself "what's new online." The page offers submit, FAQ, blog, feedback, hottest, newest, top all-time, stats, search, and a small login box. The list includes Paul Graham, odd blogs, number spirals, and pavement drawings.

What stands out is how general the site still is. It is not yet a universe of communities with their own cultures and rules. It is a ranked stream of links, usernames, points, and time.

That simplicity matters. Reddit's early page shows the web treating attention as a shared front page. The score, the poster, and the age of a link become part of how readers judge importance.

In context, the page is an experiment in lightweight collective editing. It does not try to be a magazine or portal. It asks users to submit the internet to itself, then lets ranking create a temporary order.