Community profile

r/explainlikeimfive

Accessible explanations of complicated topics, written for readers without specialist knowledge.

Weekly data through Oct 11, 2026

Compare activity against another subredditr/explainlikeimfive on Reddit
Post to Reddit
Posts and comments, every week since October 2023
70.8K−8.0%in 4 weeks, year over year
202420252026Peak 35.6K · Nov 19, 2023
Members23.7M+1.7% year over yearRead Oct 7, 2026
Posts and comments in 4 weeks70.8K−8.0% year over year4 weeks to Oct 11, 2026
Unique contributors per week10.4K+4.5% year over year4-week average to Sep 27, 2026
Weekly visitors3.2M+4.8% year over yearRead Oct 11, 2026

Three years, week by week

Weekly activity in r/explainlikeimfive

Three years of weekly history. Download any chart as a PNG.

Posts and comments per week · 3 yearsPublic posts plus comments, r/explainlikeimfive

Week ending Oct 11, 202617.5K−7.4% on the same week a year earlier

Posts and comments per week010K20K30K40KNov ’232024MarMayJulSepNov2025MarMayJulSepNov2026MarMayJulSepWeek, dated by the Sunday it endedDownload this chart as a PNG imageDownload PNGPeak 35.6K · Nov 19, 2023Low 16.2K · Oct 4, 2026Posts and comments per week020K40K2024Jul2025Jul2026JulWeek, dated by the Sunday it endedDownload this chart as a PNG imagePNGPeak 35.6K · Nov 19, 2023Low 16.2K · Oct 4, 2026

Each point is a complete Monday–Sunday UTC week, dated by the Sunday it closed. The busiest week in the range is marked, and the quietest where it stands well apart.

Weekly unique contributors · 3 yearsUnique contributors to r/explainlikeimfive

Week ending Sep 27, 20269,552−0.3% on the same week a year earlier

Unique contributors per week0500010K15K20K2024AprJulOct2025AprJulOct2026AprJulWeek, dated by the Sunday it endedDownload this chart as a PNG imageDownload PNGPeak 15.7K · Nov 19, 2023Unique contributors per week010K20K2024Jul2025Jul2026JulWeek, dated by the Sunday it endedDownload this chart as a PNG imagePNGPeak 15.7K · Nov 19, 2023

Accounts that posted or commented in the week, each counted once. Updated monthly.

Members · 3 yearsMembers of r/explainlikeimfive

Week ending Oct 11, 202623.7M+1.7% on the same week a year earlier

Members22M22.5M23M23.5M24M2024AprJulOct2025AprJulOct2026AprJulOctWeek, dated by the Sunday it endedDownload this chart as a PNG imageDownload PNGMembers22M22.5M23M23.5M24M2024Jul2025Jul2026JulWeek, dated by the Sunday it endedDownload this chart as a PNG imagePNG

The member count Reddit shows for the community, read once a week.

Posts and comments · 3 yearsPosts against comments, r/explainlikeimfive

Week ending Oct 11, 2026Weekly posts572−12.8% on the same week a year earlierWeekly comments16.9K−7.3% on the same week a year earlier

Posts per weekComments per week0500100015002000010K20K30K40K2024AprJulOct2025AprJulOct2026AprJulOctWeek, dated by the Sunday it endedDownload this chart as a PNG imageDownload PNGPosts per weekComments per week010002000020K40K2024Jul2025Jul2026JulWeek, dated by the Sunday it endedDownload this chart as a PNG imagePNG

Posts on the left scale, comments on the right. Each series is auto-scaled.

Weekly visitors · all readingsWeekly visitors, r/explainlikeimfive

Read Oct 11, 20263.2M+4.8% on the same day a year earlier

Weekly visitors02M4M6MNov ’252026MarMayJulSepDay the figure was readDownload this chart as a PNG imageDownload PNGPeak 4.55M · Jan 24, 2026Weekly visitors02M4M6MNov ’252026MarMayJulSepDay the figure was readDownload this chart as a PNG imagePNGPeak 4.55M · Jan 24, 2026

Reddit’s weekly visitor figure for the community: unique visitors over seven days, as a 28-day rolling average. It is read about once a week, and each point is dated by the day it was read. Readings more than two weeks apart are marked and joined by a dashed line.

Build your own chart

Compare activity against another subreddit

Put any measure on the left axis and another on the right, or add up to two more subreddits. Copy the page link to share the exact chart you build.

On the chart
Often read alongside
Weekly contributions against Members · 3 yearsr/explainlikeimfive
Left axis
Right axis
Range
Scale
At Oct 11, 2026
CommunityWeekly contributions Left axisMembers Right axis
ValueSince Oct 22, 2023Since the week beforeValueSince Oct 22, 2023Since the week before
r/explainlikeimfive17.5K−48.5%+7.7% from Oct 423.7M+4.8%0.0% from Oct 4
Posts and comments per weekMembers010K20K30K40K22.5M23M23.5M24MNovAprSepFebJulDecMayOctWeek end or day readDownload this chart as a PNG imageDownload PNGPosts and comments per weekMembers010K20K30K40K22.5M23M23.5M24MJul ’24Apr ’25Jan ’26Oct ’26Week end or day readDownload this chart as a PNG imagePNG

Public posts plus comments in each complete Monday-to-Sunday week, UTC. Members are the member count Reddit shows for the community, one reading a week. Solid lines use the left scale and dashed lines the right. Each scale is auto-scaled.

Open this community in the subreddit tracker

Activity pattern

Why r/explainlikeimfive is classified as Steady

Oscylo reads the newest 52 weeks of posts, comments and unique contributors and gives each subreddit one of the patterns below. The figures behind the label are shown beside it.

Activity patternSteady

r/explainlikeimfive shows no strong, consistent direction across contributions and contributors. Individual weeks can still vary.

How the label is read

Concentration1.41×
2.5×

The busiest four weeks against the quietest, with the yearly trend taken out. At 2.5× or more the year counts as concentrated: Seasonal if the busy weeks came at the same time in earlier years, Event-driven if they did not, and Variable when there is too little history to tell.

Posts and comments, yearly trend−8.4%/yr
−20%0+20%

To be considered Rising, a subreddit needs posts and comments up 20% or more over the year, with unique contributors also rising. Cooling is the same in reverse, and anything between is Steady. The trend is a line fitted through all 52 weeks, so a single busy week barely moves it.

Unique contributors, yearly trend−0.6%/yr
0

RisingSteadyCoolingSeasonalEvent-drivenVariableNew
Posts and comments per weekThe newest 52 weeks against the 52 before, r/explainlikeimfive

Week ending Oct 11, 2026Newest 52 weeks17.5KThe 52 weeks before18.9K

Posts and comments per week010K20K30K40KNov ’252026MarMayJulSepWeek, dated by the Sunday it endedDownload this chart as a PNG imageDownload PNGPeak 28.9K · Apr 12, 2026Posts and comments per week020K40KNov ’252026MarMayJulSepWeek, dated by the Sunday it endedDownload this chart as a PNG imagePNGPeak 28.9K · Apr 12, 2026

The 52 weeks before are drawn on the same calendar, so each week lines up with the matching week of the previous year.

Community anatomy

r/explainlikeimfive statistics

Six measures of how the community posts and replies, averaged over the twelve weeks from Jul 6, 2026 to Sep 27, 2026. Each bar places r/explainlikeimfive among every subreddit on Oscylo; the diamond marks the middle of its topic.

Comments per post

32.6 comments for each new post

LowerHigher

Higher than 75% of subreddits. Q&As & stories middle: 43.5.

Threaded replies

64% of comments reply to another comment

LowerHigher

Higher than 91% of subreddits. Q&As & stories middle: 48%.

Text posts

100% of new posts are text rather than links or media

LowerHigher

Higher than 99% of subreddits. Q&As & stories middle: 89%.

Activity per contributor

2.0 posts and comments per unique contributor each week

LowerHigher

Higher than 30% of subreddits. Q&As & stories middle: 2.3.

Most active 1%

4.7% of posts come from the busiest 1% of posting accounts

LowerHigher

Higher than 44% of subreddits. Q&As & stories middle: 4.7%.

Participation

0.4 unique contributors in the latest week for every 1,000 members

LowerHigher

Higher than 5% of subreddits. Q&As & stories middle: 9.2.

How contributions landPosts and comments by score
r/explainlikeimfiveAverage subreddit
Share of posts and comments0%10%20%30%40%50%60%0–1: 52%52%0–12–3: 19%19%2–34–7: 11%11%4–78–15: 7.7%7.7%8–1516–31: 4.8%4.8%16–3132–127: 4.3%4.3%32–127128–511: 1.4%1.4%128–511512–2K: 0.5%0.5%512–2K2K+: <0.1%<0.1%2K+Score (upvotes minus downvotes)Download this chart as a PNG imageDownload PNGShare of posts and comments0%10%20%30%40%50%60%0–1: 52%0-12–3: 19%2-34–7: 11%4-78–15: 7.7%8-1516–31: 4.8%16-3132–127: 4.3%32-127128–511: 1.4%128-511512–2K: 0.5%512-2K2K+: <0.1%2K+Score (upvotes minus downvotes)Download this chart as a PNG imagePNG

Score is upvotes minus downvotes a day or more after the post or comment was made, over the same twelve weeks. Outlined bars show the average mix across every subreddit on Oscylo.

Against its category

r/explainlikeimfive beside every Q&As & stories subreddit

Posts and comments in r/explainlikeimfive are −8.0% year over year. The middle Q&As & stories subreddit is at +30.0%.

Year-on-year changeEvery Q&As & stories subreddit, posts and comments year over year
−75%−50%−25%0+25%+50%+100%+200%+400%Middle +30.0%r/AskReddit: +55.2%r/AmItheAsshole: +6.7%r/confession: +30.0%r/AITAH: −71.3%r/NoStupidQuestions: +77.6%r/unpopularopinion: +22.1%r/AmIOverreacting: −67.3%r/MaliciousCompliance: −28.5%r/BestofRedditorUpdates: −11.1%r/PeterExplainsTheJoke: +106.9%r/Advice: +15.0%r/whatisit: +89.6%r/ExplainTheJoke: −78.0%r/whatdoIdo: +78.8%r/explainitpeter: −48.3%r/askanything: 16×r/aio: +216.2%r/luftablassen: +87.7%r/corporate: 24×r/identifyThisForMe: +855.1%r/AskRedditr/AmItheAssholer/confessionr/AITAHr/NoStupidQuestionsr/unpopularopinionr/AmIOverreactingr/MaliciousCompliancer/BestofRedditorUpdatesr/PeterExplainsTheJoker/explainlikeimfive −8.0%Posts and comments, year over yearDownload this chart as a PNG imageDownload PNG−75%−25%0+25%+100%+400%Middle +30.0%r/AskReddit: +55.2%r/AmItheAsshole: +6.7%r/confession: +30.0%r/AITAH: −71.3%r/NoStupidQuestions: +77.6%r/unpopularopinion: +22.1%r/AmIOverreacting: −67.3%r/MaliciousCompliance: −28.5%r/BestofRedditorUpdates: −11.1%r/PeterExplainsTheJoke: +106.9%r/Advice: +15.0%r/whatisit: +89.6%r/ExplainTheJoke: −78.0%r/whatdoIdo: +78.8%r/explainitpeter: −48.3%r/askanything: 16×r/aio: +216.2%r/luftablassen: +87.7%r/corporate: 24×r/identifyThisForMe: +855.1%r/AskRedditr/AmItheAssholer/confessionr/AITAHr/NoStupidQuestionsr/explainlikeimfive −8.0%Year over yearDownload this chart as a PNG imagePNG

Each subreddit's newest four weeks of posts and comments against the same four weeks a year earlier. The scale stretches near zero and compresses the extremes, and changes beyond +400% sit at the edge.

Data and sharing

Take the data with you

Every week as a spreadsheet

Weekly posts, comments, unique contributors and members for r/explainlikeimfive, one row per week across the three years shown here.

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Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0: free for non-commercial use with credit to Oscylo and a link to this page.

Cite this page

Oscylo. r/explainlikeimfive weekly activity. oscylo.com/sub/explainlikeimfive, weeks through Oct 11, 2026.

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