Why is this Houston politician always on Reddit?

Users of the social media platform seem to agree with the elected official from Houston’s District 137. Wu is no stranger to Reddit, where users share news articles, rate content and have discussions on topics ranging from how to fix a toilet to relationship advice.

“I think I’m just an overall nerd which is probably the ideal Reddit personality,” Wu explains. “I have a wide variety of interests that are pretty popular on Reddit.” His posts largely center on subreddits, pages dedicated to specific topics, including the video game Wu plays and his interest in high-fidelity sound reproduction.

Wu would sometimes reveal himself as a Texas state legislator to respond to political posts. But it was after lurking on Reddit for close to a decade that he decided to purposefully use the platform to provide a glimpse into the legislative process. “I sensed people’s frustration and thought, ‘Let’s do something about this,'” Wu says, who is now in his fifth term.

The Redditor politico

Reddit users, known as Redditors, value honesty and engaging content above all. When someone attempts to use the platform to spread misinformation or act as a shill, they are usually rejected.

Wu speaks Reddit lingo (for instance, “OP” stands for “original poster,” the person who initiated the thread) and knows what users will enjoy. He manages to answer serious questions in-depth but also responds to trolls with biting humor.

“I think it’s important for all Americans to understand exactly how their government works,” Wu says, explaining why he began creating videos and posting them to the platform. “Sometimes it feels so dark in politics and we’re here to put a little light on it.”

Not every question elicits a video. “If it’s something really simple that I can answer in one sentence, that’s great,” Wu says. “But sometimes people have really complex questions that I think, ‘I need to do more than just a short response.'”

On January 10, Wu shared a photo of himself being sworn into the Texas legislature and asked: “I want to help people understand the legislative process and see more behind the scenes stuff in the Texas Legislature. What kind of things would interest y’all?”

Seven days later, Wu posted his first video where he discussed how committees are formed, with Redditors asking questions or leaving comments such as, “These updates are excellent! State Legislature feels so remote–mainly for politicos. Videos like these makes it far more accessible.”

Wu says that he tries to create videos on topics that people have requested. One such request resulted in a video of him explaining lobbying.

“What I’ve seen is that people–after watching the videos–feel good about engaging their leaders, engaging the democratic process and having their voice heard,” Wu says. “If that helps one person go out and speak their mind and let their leaders know what they want–mission accomplished.”

Why Reddit