Reddit becoming a destination for women to share critical health information according to Weber Shandwick study

Women are increasingly using Reddit to share information about their health, according to a recent study . 

Conducted by Weber Shandwick Collective’s Women’s Health Center of Excellence, the study found that discussions about women’s health on Reddit increased 37% between 2023 and 2024.

During that same period, the Reddit thread “r/WomensHealth” saw a 91% in community growth. 

More notably, the study found that 89% of participants said they can connect with and learn from others on the platform.

Nearly 80% percent considered Reddit a space where they can learn about their health without judgement, indicating that more and more women are using the platform to learn and exchange information about health conditions. 

According to Jamie Dowd, president of New York and health for the Americas at Weber Shandwick, one statistic that stood out was that 81% of individuals said they feel less alone on their health journey because of communities on the platform.

“It seems that people are able to find that sense of inclusion and empowerment that they’re not able to find in other places or in other areas of their life on the platform,” she said. 

At a time when pharma brands are evaluating which social media platforms are the best fit for their marketing efforts, Reddit has emerged as a promising option.

The rise of Reddit

Dowd said she first heard rumblings that Reddit was a place more women were turning to for mental health resources, which helped inspire the study. “It’s amazing to see so many women using the platform and such an increase in engagement,” she noted. 

Paulita David, senior managing director of sales at Reddit, echoed Dowd’s sentiment and shared that there has been an exponential increase year-over-year for posts about women’s health. She highlighted Reddit’s anonymous sharing feature—where users share exchanges under usernames—as playing a key role in the fostering of authentic exchanges on the platform.

The anonymity, she said, creates a safe space where women can talk about health topics they may not be able to share anywhere else.  She was excited to see so many women feel a sense of belonging on the platform, especially since there is no incentive for users to give advice or respond to threads.  The fact that so many women are doing so organically is a sign that the platform features are designed to foster connection, she noted. “Being on the platform is like a party you go to, where every single person cares about exactly what you care about,” she said.

David also shared that the team was pleasantly surprised by the breadth and depth of information exchanged on the platform. 

Reproductive health tops interest

The Weber Shandwick study found that gynaecological health, primary/chronic care conditions and mental health conditions were the most discussed women’s health topics on Reddit. 

The platform also saw significant growth across communities discussing topics like perimenopause and menopause, as well as topics that could traditionally be considered taboo—like sex and birth control and questions related to conditions like UTIs and cysts. 

Most notably, phrases like “bleeding after sex,” “pelvic exams” and “ovarian cysts” saw a triple-digit year-over-year growth in searches. A compelling aspect of the interest in gynaecological health, according to Kathleen Hunter, EVP of client experience at Weber Shandwick, was that it showed generational searches.

“It wasn’t just younger people asking about birth control, it also included people later in life,” she said. Migraines and headaches were also among the top 100 searches under the “r/Health” thread, which is relevant considering the audience. 

Women are 3.25 times more likely to develop migraines, as the condition may be triggered by estrogen. Over a third on Reddit reported experiencing migraines, and more than eight in 10 respondents agreed that they felt less alone on their migraine journey because of Reddit communities. 

Mental health bonds

Insomnia was another condition that saw a marked increase in searches. 

Largely linked to mental health conditions like depression and anxiety—which women are more likely to develop—the phrase saw an 82% increase in searches from 2023 and 2024. The research indicated more than three-quarters of women found insights on the platform about insomnia they couldn’t find anywhere else. 

What stood out more than anything else to the leaders at Weber Shandwick and Reddit was that users were using the platform to share their health journey as patients. “People are not just sharing but creating a community where they follow others through their healthcare journeys,” David said. 

She noted that information about women’s health is not just viewed by women, but by men too.

Anecdotally, she noted that she saw a male user thank the Reddit community for providing key information about his wife’s health condition. “You don’t need to be a woman to care about women’s health, you just need a woman in your life,” she added.