Some Redditors farm upvotes - but do they realise they’re also sowing a crop of valuable OSINT data? For open-source intelligence (OSINT) investigators, Reddit is a fruitful source of publicly available information. From uncovering hidden connections to tracking digital footprints, OSINT on Reddit can yield critical insights… so long as you know where to dig.
With over 430 million active users, Reddit is one of the most popular sites on the net. It’s full to the brim with energetic discussion on any topic you can imagine, making it a prime target for OSINT research. What makes OSINT on Reddit unique is this range of information; a skilled investigator can uncover insights they won’t find anywhere else.
Whether you're part of the r/OSINT community, a cybersecurity professional, or an independent investigator, this guide will help you ethically and effectively gather OSINT on Reddit. Let’s get into it.
What is Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)?
If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re already familiar with Open-Source Intelligence; you might even be an OSINT professional. If so, feel free to skip to the next section.
To recap: OSINT, or Open-Source INTelligence is the process of collecting and analysing data from publicly accessible sources. OSINT draws from a wide range of open sources - online platforms, social media platforms, media publications, public records, metadata, government reports and even eCommerce. Governments, law enforcement, journalists, researchers, data analysts, cybersecurity professionals and private sector companies from Fortune-500 titans to family businesses are all using OSINT right now to support decision-making and strategic planning.
The core principle of OSINT is this reliance on only legally available and publicly accessible information. This is where Reddit comes in.
For more on how OSINT works, distinctions between different OSINT branches, and even a quick historical rundown, check out our comprehensive OSINT Basics article, ‘What is OSINT?’
How Does OSINT on Reddit Work?
Unlike most social media platforms, discussions on Reddit are structured around a network of semi-independent sub-platforms. These are topic-based communities where interested users can discuss everything from cybersecurity (r/OSINT), to basketball (r/nba), to niche hobbies (r/whittling). All accounts are anonymous, with user-selected screen names (eg. u/OSINTindustries). These users, known as Redditors, can create posts within subreddits, or comment on posts by other users.
The unique structure of Reddit means you can only gather information from specific sources:
- Publicly accessible posts & comments: Unless it’s posted in a private subreddit, all content on Reddit is public and open for analysis. This includes posts on Redditors’ profile pages, posts in their chosen subreddits, and all comments on posts throughout the site.
- User profiles: Reddit profiles reveal a user’s post history, interests, and behavioral patterns. Every Redditor has a profile; simply click on their username to access their page. However, simply visiting a subreddit without posting or commenting (known as “lurking") will leave no trace.
- Deleted content recovery: Just because posts can be deleted, doesn’t mean they’re gone forever. Tools like Reveddit can recover deleted posts, and reveal users’ attempts to cover their digital tracks.
- Metadata & timestamps: Reddit records and displays the time posts and comments were created. This is extremely useful for tracking user activity over time, and is publicly visible on every post or comment.
This all sounds great, but we know what you’re thinking: Reddit is built to be anonymous. Surely this anonymity will set back even the most intrepid of OSINT investigators? After all, the site is built to avoid sharing exactly the type of information OSINT on Reddit operations are aiming to uncover.
However, this anonymity actually works to your advantage. Hidden behind a cute customised Snoo (Reddit’s famous red-eyed mascot), posters will reveal far more than they might elsewhere. And it’s surprisingly simple to link account activity back to real world names, locations, phone numbers, and more - with just a little OSINT on Reddit know-how.
OSINT on Reddit: Key Investigation Techniques
So, let’s discover the best OSINT techniques for gathering intelligence on Reddit. With these techniques in their digital back pocket, OSINT investigators can uncover usernames, activity, email addresses, geolocation, and more - plus link this information to real-world facts. Let’s get into it.
1. Finding a Redditor
Every Redditor’s account holds valuable clues, which are easy to follow if you know how to trace their online breadcrumb trail.
Dorking and Searching
Redditors aren’t known for being the most imaginative netizens; so a simple Google Dork can easily reveal links between users across multiple platforms. Search to discover if a Redditor has reused their username elsewhere.
This will also reveal if they have mentioned their account name on other platforms such as Twitter, Discord, GitHub, Twitch, or Steam. For best results, run a site-specific search: start your Google query with the location you want to search (e.g. site:twitter.com "username").
Reddit Search
Reddit does have an inbuilt search function; however it is notoriously poor quality. The one thing it is useful for is discovering usernames, especially if you want to check for accounts linked to a username you already know. Simply type the username into the search bar, appended with a ‘u/’ prefix (eg. ‘u/billgates’). This will bring up any profiles with a similar name.
2. Tracking Their Activity
Once you’ve identified a user, it’s easy to track their activity across multiple subreddits. Many Redditors will happily reveal their interests and affiliations through the subreddits they interact with; tracking these can give an investigator insight into their hobbies, job, behaviour or even psychology. For example, frequent posts and comments in r/OSINT or r/opsec indicate a tech-savvy user who’ll be tough to pin down.
To gather OSINT on Reddit profiles:
- Click on the Redditor’s username (usually above their comment, or above the title of their post), and navigate to their profile page.
- Check the ‘active in these communities' banner, and see where they commonly post
- Scroll through their profile to see their complete post history
- Click the ‘Comments’ tab to see their complete comment history
It’s that easy. Of course, you can’t see all their activity: posts and comments in private subreddits, deleted comments, and lurking won’t instantly show up. But this should be enough to move on to the next stage.
3. Geolocation and Real-World Connections
Analysing Timestamps and Other Clues
Under the cover of anonymity, Redditors will sometimes get sloppy; leaking location data unintentionally. Look for references to local events, pop culture or even slang in their comments and posts. It’s not difficult to deduce that a poster in r/Birmingham might have links to the UK.
Meanwhile, Reddit’s timestamp feature allows investigators to narrow down a Redditor’s location, schedule, and real-world movements. Check when users are most active: for example, consistent late-night posts may suggest a specific timezone. A disappearance between 9am and 5pm local time indicates steady employment, whilst heated online discussion at 3pm on a Monday indicates the opposite.
Image Metadata and Reverse Image Search
Despite being primarily a text-based site, Reddit is far more visual than it first appears. Many subreddits will require posts to include an image, and some will even allow Redditors to post images in their comments or replies. This wealth of images is fertile ground for OSINT research on Reddit. Use Google Reverse Image Search to wade through the reposts and locate originals. Or, use open-source software like ExifTool to extract metadata, timestamps and geotags.
4. Uncovering Emails and Personal Info
Specialized OSINT tools, including OSINT Industries, are the best way to link your initial findings to email addresses, real names, addresses, phone numbers and more. Platforms like OSINT Industries and Maltego can map and cross-reference usernames with external data sources to uncover these details.
Plus, these tools let you automate searches, visualize connections and reveal patterns that manual methods might miss. With access to over 370+ email modules, OSINT Industries’ platform is a great virtual magnifying glass to uncover the man behind the Snoo.
Ethical and Legal Considerations for OSINT on Reddit
OSINT Industries’ platform is built to automatically ensure a high ethical and legal standard, but it’s important to keep your off-platform investigations ethical too. Here are our golden rules to help you stay compliant:
- Only use publicly available data: As with any SOCMINT investigation, all the information you need should be out there already. Avoid hacking, scraping private subreddits, or violating Reddit’s TOS.
- Respect privacy: Reddit is anonymous, so let’s keep it that way. Do not dox users or share their personal info maliciously, and always keep in mind the values of #OSINT4Good. Besides, if the bad guys knew they weren’t truly anonymous, they’d stop giving so much good information away.
- Use compliant tools: Using a platform like OSINT Industries comes with legal and ethical guarantees, including our no-saved-data policy. Read our Ethics and Compliance page for more details.
Conclusion
Reddit’s unique, anonymous ecosystem makes it a treasure trove for the intrepid OSINT investigator - so long as they know how to navigate it. By leveraging all the tools at your disposal - from a simple Google dork to a specialised OSINT platform - you too can master OSINT on Reddit. Whether you’re a cybersecurity professional, journalist, law enforcement officer or digital investigator, OSINT Industries is here to help you find the truth.
