IAmA and AMA
One of the most popular subreddits is IAmA ("I Am A") where a user may post "AMAs" (for "Ask Me Anything"), or similarly "AMAAs" ( for "Ask Me Almost Anything") – prompts for others to ask questions about any topic. AMAs are open to all Reddit users, and use the site's comment system for both questions and answers; it is similar to a press conference, but online. This subreddit was founded in May 2009.
[22]
A number of notable individuals have participated in the IAmA subreddit, including President
Barack Obama[23][24] (while campaigning for the
2012 election),
Dave Grohl,
[25] Madonna,
[26] Chris Hadfield[27] (who answered questions from the
International Space Station),
Bill Gates,
[28] Ron Paul,
[29] Stephen Colbert,
[30] Psy,
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Rachel Maddow,
Renée Fleming,
M. Shadows,
Louis C.K.,
Roger Federer,
Larry King,
Philip Zimbardo,
Bill Nye,
[31] Stan Lee,
John Mather,
David Copperfield,
Paul Krugman,
Danny Boyle,
Al Gore,
Roger Ebert,
Michael Bolton,
Gary Johnson,
Lawrence Krauss,
Jill Stein,
Kevin Rudd,
Julie Benz,
[32] Amanda Palmer,
[33] and
Tim Ferriss.
[34] As of April 2014, Barack Obama's AMA is the highest rated on the site;
[35] the increased traffic brought down many parts of the website when the AMA occurred on August 29, 2012.
[36]
Celebrities participating in IAmAs have seen both positive and negative responses.
Woody Harrelson's
[37] AMA was criticized after Harrelson declined to answer questions that were unrelated to the movie
Rampart he was promoting.
[38] In contrast, rapper
Snoop Lion attracted 1.6 million page views
[39] after conducting an AMA that provided several candid responses to the community's
questions.
[40]