In 2013, Reddit broke the record for the world’s largest gift exchange’ with 85,000 participants spanning 120 countries.
This was no small feat, but was made to seem so after the already impressive record was shattered this year, with 212,709 users signing up from 188 countries. Users could sign up from Nov. 2-30. Once signed up, participants were given a random user to shop for, forcing participants to scour their match’s posting history to find their interests, hopefully resulting in an idea for the perfect gift.
The gift being given has no official minimum or maximum price, which has resulted in a wide variety of gifts ranging from creatively hand-made to over-the-top levels of grandiose.
So far, users have posted gifts such as custom-drawn prints, hot air ballon rides and tickets to a Seattle Mariners game. Some Redditors also encouraged their matches to chase their dreams and passions.
“I have nystagmus and glaucoma so my eyes are degenerating worse and worse each year. Since the doctors say I will probably be 100 per cent blind before I am 35, I wanted to know what it is like to jump from a plane. So when I found out what the gift was, I cried,” posted user peshe528.
Other users received musical instruments to pursue their passions, and some participating teachers received much needed school supplies.
Bill Gates during the 2013 Reddit Secret Santa
A few celebrities are returning or participating for their first time this year, including Snoop Dogg, Alyssa Milano, Ron Perlman and Bill Gates, who last year donated a cow to to a needy family in the name of his matched participant. It is reassuring to see a beacon of positivity shine through in what is often seen as a hostile community.
