How do I let the invisible women of Reddit know there's a menopause sub?

August 13, 2019 10:28 AM

I know the stats: Reddit skews heavily under 30, and heavily male. (And also is toxic and terrible.) Nevertheless...

There are bajillions of Reddit users, so communities that don't fit that demographic are both plentiful and populous. And many of those are perfectly pleasant, too.

One example of this is r/TrollXChromosomes, and as an offshoot of that sub, I started r/TrollXMenopause. There are just over 100 members, which is lovely but not enough people to really engender conversation on posts.

I don't mind cross-posting to other communities, or introducing myself and the sub to other subs, I'm just not sure where to find the invisible women on Reddit who are over 40, or over 50, or how to reach them.

Any ideas?

posted by DarlingBri to Computers & Internet (17 answers total)

Ask the admins of relatively well-known subs like /r/askwomenover30 /r/redditover40 (or whatever it's called) to list your sub in the sidebar as a related community.
posted by shaademaan at 10:39 AM on August 13, 2019 [14 favorites]

/r/sexover30 might be a good place to ask if you can cross post. there are lots of folks there in the menopausal age range.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:26 PM on August 13, 2019

How do I let the invisible women of Reddit know there's a menopause sub?

By posting here! I headed over there and increased your followers by one :)
posted by headnsouth at 12:46 PM on August 13, 2019 [7 favorites]

When you see redditors talking about issues that could be discussed in your sub, reply to their comment saying there's a sub for that! And invite them to contribute. Advertising relevant subs is totally fine.
posted by erst at 12:49 PM on August 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

You can also ask the admins of other woman-related subs if you could make a post specifically about your sub. I've seen that happen for new/underrepresented subs.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 1:06 PM on August 13, 2019

Add one more to your subscriber count!
posted by heathrowga at 1:46 PM on August 13, 2019 [5 favorites]

Blogsnark (despite the name, lots of thoughtful threads on blogger/influencer culture) has some older posters.

The only other one I really read is muacjdiscussion, on which there are people born in the 2000s, so...
posted by mippy at 1:47 PM on August 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

I suppose there's also MNTrolls, which is an offshoot of Mumsnet - reluctant to recommend it as Mumsnet itself has got extremely TERF of late and that might not be something you want as part of the community, but the women on there (it started as a sub to spot and make fun of trolls on the boards) seem to be quite funny and sharp and mostly in your demographic.
posted by mippy at 1:51 PM on August 13, 2019

Oh hey, I joined, too. Possibly just what I've been looking for in Reddit!
posted by missmobtown at 2:27 PM on August 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

I too am a member of this demographic and v. excited to be targeted in this manner! Subbed.
posted by freya_lamb at 2:31 PM on August 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

THANK YOU! I have also subscribed. Is "Troll" a good thing now? (sorry, am old and somewhat warm)

Definitely Blogsnark, and I am also someone who reads /r/femalefashionadvice/ without ever posting because I feel like I'm the oldest one there. I bet I'm not alone!
posted by kimberussell at 3:37 PM on August 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

link to /r/TrollXMenopause
posted by theora55 at 3:38 PM on August 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

And that's how I found out about this fan you attach to your phone.
posted by Glinn at 3:56 PM on August 13, 2019 [2 favorites]

Thank you for creating /r/TrollXMenopause. I find it infinitely comforting to know that I am not the only member of my demographic on Reddit. Needless to say, I have subscribed.

/r/fashionwomens35 might be a good place to ask if you could cross-post or make a post specifically about your sub -- u/Chazzyphant, the creator and moderator, seems pretty chill.
posted by virago at 8:50 PM on August 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

A lot of the crafty subreddits skew overwhelmingly female. Maybe r/knitting and r/sewing?
posted by moons in june at 9:05 PM on August 13, 2019

Troll subs are often joke/mockery/venting subs based on another sub. Is there an r/xmenopause or r/menopause that might be absorbing the traffic that would otherwise come to you? If so, people might think that your sub is a derivative joke sub of one of those; if it's not, you might need to clarify that somehow.
posted by windykites at 9:10 AM on August 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

I just joined too.
posted by SisterHavana at 7:25 PM on August 14, 2019