What happened
On March 24, 2020, Reddit launched a native Polls post format across all communities except text-only subreddits. The feature let any user pose a question with up to six answer options and a voting window of up to one week, designed to draw in 'lurkers' who prefer to read rather than comment. By making participation a single tap, Reddit aimed to convert passive readers into active contributors.
Reddit cited a pre-launch test, a Super Bowl LIV poll in r/NFL, that drew roughly 9,100 votes, about five times the engagement of an average post in that community. Polls became a durable, lightweight engagement tool on the platform and one of several format additions through which Reddit broadened the ways users could interact beyond traditional link and text posts.