Reddit's AMAs (Ask Me Anything) a useful tool in getting personal with fans

Reddit.com is a social news aggregator where users post links, images, and original writing (referred to as "self posts") while the rest of the community votes up or down, each post. Posts with more up-votes rise to the front page while less popular and more down-voted posts fall to obscurity. Among the more remarkable  types of posts on Reddit are its AMAs, which stand for "Ask me anything". AMAs are a kind of self post where a user can announce that they are open to any questions the rest of the community would like to ask. These posts are generally followed by users asking questions, with these questions being voted up or down by other users in the AMA which forms a list of the most popular questions the community would like answered. 

Today's front page of Reddits AMA section (http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/)

AMAs have been utilized as a buzz creator and marketing tool by many celebrities and public figures. These sorts of AMAs are becoming more and more common as Reddit increases its user base.  Some notable examples include Louis CK promoting his latest comedy special, "Live at the Beacon Theatre" (Reddit.com, 2011) and of course Barak Obama, on the campaign trail for the 2012 American presidential election (Reddit.com, 2012). 

It is not difficult to see the allure of utilizing Reddits AMAs for certain marketing purposes. In 2012, Reddit gained 37 billion page views and 400 million unique visitors (Weber, 2012). This incredible amount of traffic leaves little wonder as to why many individuals would use Reddit to market themselves or their causes. Like lots of other social media, it also allows an individual to forge a more personal, and human connection with their fans because it is a platform by which anyone can ask a question and the person conducting the AMA is meant to answer directly. 

Reddit's AMAs are especially useful to those who wish to market to Reddit's core demographic, American males aged 18 - 25 (Alexa.com, 2013). This explains why Barak Obama chose to do one as his efforts to get young people to vote in his elections have been well documented. 

Any public figure thinking of doing an AMA, who does not normally frequent the site, should tread carefully. As previously stated, AMA stands for "Ask Me Anything", and Reddit's user base takes this quite literally. Deflecting personal questions and steering conversations toward whatever it is you are promoting will turn the masses of Reddit users against you and make your gesture of personal outreach appear artificial. Among the most notable examples of this was Woody Harrelson's AMA in promotion for his movie, "Rampart". During this AMA, Woody would deflect questions regarding himself and instead tried to only talk about the upcoming film. Naturally this angered his fans, who expected a genuine dialogue between Woody and themselves, embarrassing Woody in the process (Crugnale, 2012).

To sum up, Reddit's AMAs can be a very useful tool for public figures to reach out to their fans and gain some new ones, especially for those who are after male American adults. Though, only do so if you are ready to be an open book and willing to let promotion of current projects be a secondary concern.

Alexa.com (Apr 05, 2013) Reddit.com Site info. Retrieved Apr 05 2013 from http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/reddit.com

Crugnale, J. (Feb, 04, 2012) Woody Harrelson's AMA (Ask Me Anything) Goes Disastrously Wrong on Reddit. Retrieved Apr 05, 2013 from http://www.mediaite.com/online/woody-harrelson-ama-ask-me-anything-goes-disastrously-wrong-on-reddit/

Reddit.com (Dec, 12, 2011) Hi, I'm Louis C.K. and This is a Thing: Iama. Retrieved Apr 05, 2013 from http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/n9tef/hi_im_louis_ck_and_this_is_a_thing/

Reddit.com (Aug, 29, 2012) I am Barak Obama, President of the United States -- AMA. Retrieved Apr 05, 2013 from http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/z1c9z/i_am_barack_obama_president_of_the_united_states/

Weber,H. (Dec, 31, 2012) Reddit's Impressive 2012 Stats. Retrieved Apr 05, 2013 from http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/12/31/reddits-2012-milestones-37-billion-page-views-400-million-uniques-and-30-million-posts/