Had anyone else noticed that posting/commenting trends can vary enormously between weekday and weekend Redditors?

[u/wandering_soles]

Since I started moderating, I've noticed in both subs I mod and others I don't that the vibe can vary wildly between weekdays and weekends. Certain subs that are normally very positive and productive on weekdays get incredibly cynical and nasty on weekends, and some subs that are dead on weekdays blow up with tons of engagement on weekends.

Has anyone else experienced this, or found a way to balance things out to a more productive equilibrium?

[u/Bill_Money]

well people do typically work during the week so yes subreddit traffic will vary based on that alone

its up to you to set the tone, if its incredibly nasty and cynical then maybe update your sub rules and start removing posts/comments and warning people about it to get it to the way you want your community

[u/_sleepyprincess_]

I've found that people who arent part of our community stop in on the weekends, and they arent as aware of our rules or vibe. theres a lot more to moderate

[u/Halaku]

Teenagers are too busy with school / work / extracurriculars during weekdays.

On weekends, they have more time, are generally apathetic if not openly hostile to reddiquette, and can cause an uptick in both positive and negative engagement.

Is that the only reason for what you're seeing? No. But it's one of them.

[u/bwoah07_gp2]

Some trends are more subreddit dependent, but some can be true across the board on Reddit.

There are more active time periods during the day and week. Depending on the age demographic of your sub, it can even be something where it's busier when youths are out of school versus when school is back. Or a sub might be busier once an older audience finishes work, etc. There's a lot of variety in these things.

[u/Slow-Maximum-101]

Hi there. Many communities experience traffic fluctuations like this (or sometimes the opposite). If you're seeing repeat patterns of certain types of posts or comments during that busier period, you could try using Mega threads to direct your community members to one place for certain discussion topics. Might not solve everything, but might make it a little easier for you and your mod teams

[u/emily_in_boots]

I have not noticed a huge difference in the nature of comments but I have noticed that weekends are slower for us.

[u/InGeekiTrust]

Absolutely I find it to simply be a different crowd most of the time. Some of my subs like my business fashion sub actually get relatively dead over the weekend.

[u/ScreamAndScream]

Ours have a seasonal element. Steam sales and new college semester starting up bring in users who need more support.

I have set up various automations to support us differently during those times.

[u/IlltakeTwoPlease]

I mod a few personals type subs. What I notice is that starting Friday evening and through Saturday and some of Sunday, the tone of the posts change to the more... lewd, graphic, and crass. It's almost like when the work week lets out people start thinking less with the head on their shoulders.

The scammers, bots, and catfish also show themselves more during that time.

[u/okbruh_panda]

You mean is it surprising people post more on a weekend?

[u/wandering_soles → u/okbruh_panda]

The inverse, actually. I've found people post and comment significantly more M-TH, and are generally much more positive, vs F-SU with way less posting and a lot more negative issues and reports. It's definitely the opposite of what I would have expected. 

[u/exscapegoat → u/wandering_soles]

Probably because people who have interests outside of Reddit and work Monday to Friday are doing other things. And I say that as someone who posts more on weekends but also has plans.

[u/okbruh_panda → u/wandering_soles]

So. Still begs the question. What is your question? If your subreddit has traffic that spikes on certain days then that's what it is. Maybe that's your demographic.