Reddit has removed visible member counts from subreddits, shifting the focus to activity-based stats instead. The change was announced as part of the platform’s effort to better reflect real engagement.
Previously, users could see the number of subscribers listed under a subreddit’s bio on desktop or under its name on mobile.
That figure has now been replaced by two statistics: how many people visited the subreddit in the past seven days, and how many contributions were made during the same period. Reddit says this approach gives a clearer picture of activity, since many users read posts without actively contributing.
“Member counts don’t tell the whole story. In most cases, redditors don’t need to be a member of a community to post or comment, which means member totals have never fully reflected true engagement,” they said in an announcement.
Moderator limits tied to new visitor counts
The update also ties into Reddit’s moderation policies. Moderators will now be restricted to overseeing a maximum of five communities that each receive over 100,000 weekly visitors. Subreddits with fewer than that number will not count toward the limit, which Reddit says will only affect 0.1 percent of active moderators.
While moderators can still view total subscriber numbers in subreddit insights, regular users no longer have access to those figures. Reaction to the announcement on r/modnews shows that many Redditors are unhappy with the change, though Reddit maintains the new system better emphasizes active participation.
“I’d prefer to keep subscribers public and the visitors per week and contribution stats private for mods. I don’t think changing that is a good idea,” one user commented.
Another said: “I don’t think it’s a good idea removing the member count. I like to see the member count on my subreddit more than visitors. Doesn’t make sense to just see how many contributions and visitors.”
This change is similar to YouTube’s removal of dislikes years ago, which can now be accessed by installing a browser plugin that gives you the information.
