The Verge reports that Reddit is splitting its homepage into a Following feed of subreddits you have joined and a For You feed that adds recommendations. This guide explains how to set up both feeds so each one shows what you want.
Check what you need before starting
You need a Reddit account. Both feeds depend on what Reddit knows about you, and a logged-out visitor has no followed communities and little history to work from. You also need the current version of the official Reddit app, or access to the website in a desktop or mobile browser.
Set aside some time to review the communities you have joined. Many long-standing accounts follow subreddits their owners no longer read. Under the new layout this matters more, because joined communities are what fill the Following feed, and The Verge reports that they also feed into For You.
Rollout details have not been published. It is not known whether every account will get the new layout at once, whether the app and website will get it together, or whether it will differ by region. If you cannot see the feeds yet, the steps below will still help once they arrive. Menu labels in this guide may not match exactly what you see, because Reddit often renames settings between versions.
Update the app and find the new feeds
Install any pending update for the Reddit app from your device’s app store, then close and reopen the app. On the website, refresh the homepage while logged in.
Then look at the top of the home screen. The Verge describes the change as a “new feed experience” with two named feeds, so expect to switch between Following and For You somewhere near the top of the homepage. Open each one and scroll for a minute to see how they differ before you change anything. Note which feed opens by default, because you will see that one most often.
Prune the communities you follow
Since the Following feed is built from your subreddits, its quality depends on that list. Open your list of joined communities from your profile or the side menu and go through it.
Leave any community you no longer read. Leave any that post so much they crowd out smaller communities you care about. If you want to keep a subreddit for occasional visits but not see it every day, consider leaving it and bookmarking it in your browser, or check whether the app lets you mute it.
Then join the communities you do read regularly but never got round to following. People who mostly browse through search or links often have a short or outdated list, which makes the Following feed look emptier than it should.
Use the Following feed for your own communities
Treat Following as the feed for deliberate reading. It is meant to show posts only from subreddits you have chosen, so it suits people who want a predictable homepage or who follow niche, slow-moving communities that recommendations might bury.
Check whether you can sort this feed. Reddit has long offered sort options such as Best, Hot, New and Top on its home feed, but it is not known whether all of them will apply to the new Following feed. If a New option is available, it is the closest thing to seeing posts in the order they were made.
If you want this feed to open by default, look in the app or account settings for a default feed or homepage option. The Verge’s report does not say whether such a setting exists in the new layout, so check rather than assume.
Train the For You feed
According to The Verge, For You combines posts from your subreddits with recommendations related to your interests. How Reddit decides what those interests are has not been described in detail, but recommendation feeds usually respond to what you open, vote on, comment on and hide.
Act on posts you do not want to see. Reddit already offers options on individual posts, usually under a three-dot menu, to hide a post or show fewer posts like it. Use them consistently for a few days. Do the same in reverse: upvote, open and save posts from recommended communities that turn out to be useful. If a recommended subreddit keeps appearing and you like it, join it, which also moves it into your Following feed.
Expect the feed to change gradually rather than at once. One or two signals rarely shift a recommendation system noticeably.
Review your recommendation and privacy settings
Open the settings menu and look for sections covering feed preferences, content preferences and privacy. Reddit has previously offered controls over recommendations on the home feed and over whether activity is used to personalise content. Check whether those controls still exist under the new layout and what they now affect.
Also review content filters such as mature content settings and any muted communities, since these may apply to both feeds. If you share a device or let children use your account, check these settings carefully, because recommended posts come from communities nobody has screened.
Avoid the mistakes people actually make
The most common mistake is judging For You on the first day. A new or lightly used account gives the system little to work with, so early recommendations tend to be broad and popular rather than personal.
The second is ignoring the Following list. People complain that their homepage is cluttered when the clutter comes from communities they joined years ago. Pruning is usually more effective than any setting.
The third is scrolling past unwanted posts instead of marking them. Passing over a post silently tells the system very little, while hiding it or asking for fewer like it gives a clear signal.
The fourth is assuming that settings carried over unchanged. When a platform restructures its feeds, defaults can reset or move. Check your preferred sort, default feed and content filters after the update.
Recognise when this approach is the wrong choice
Tuning the homepage is not the best approach if you only use Reddit for a handful of specific communities. Opening those subreddits directly, or bookmarking them, avoids recommendations entirely and does not depend on how Reddit configures its feeds.
It is also the wrong tool if your aim is research or keeping up with a topic. Search, saved searches through a browser, or reading a subreddit sorted by New give more complete and predictable coverage than any personalised feed.
Finally, if you do not want your activity shaping what you see, training For You works against that goal. In that case, stick to Following, limit personalisation in your privacy settings where Reddit allows it, and accept that you will see fewer new communities.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Reddit’s Following and For You feeds?
The Verge reports that the Following feed shows posts from subreddits you have joined, while the For You feed mixes posts from your subreddits with recommendations related to your interests. Following is the narrower, more predictable option. For You is meant to surface communities and posts you might not have found on your own, so it will include material from subreddits you do not follow.
Why can’t I see the For You feed on Reddit yet?
Reddit has not said publicly how the new feeds are being rolled out, so it is not known whether all accounts will get them at once. Update the app, restart it, and make sure you are logged in. If the feeds still do not appear, your account or device may not have the update yet, which is common with gradual rollouts on large platforms.
How do I stop Reddit recommending subreddits I don’t want?
On posts you do not want, use the options in each post’s menu to hide it or show fewer like it, and do this consistently. Check the settings menu for feed or recommendation preferences and content filters. If recommendations still bother you, switch to the Following feed, which is described as showing only posts from subreddits you have chosen.
Can I make the Following feed my default on Reddit?
It has not been confirmed whether the new layout lets you set Following as the default. Look in the app and account settings for a default feed or homepage option after updating. If none exists, select Following manually each time you open Reddit, or bookmark it in a browser if it has its own page address.
Sources and further reading
- The Verge, technology coverage reporting Reddit’s announcement of the Following and For You feeds
- Reddit’s official help centre, guidance on feed, content and privacy settings
- Reddit’s company announcements, statements on product changes and rollouts
- General technology press coverage explaining how recommendation feeds use activity signals
Surfaced from the rss:verge signal “social platform feed redesign”. AI-assisted draft, editorially reviewed.
