2025 MM+M Media Summit keynote with Reddit's Jess Calef

November 7, 2025·32 min·2 clips

Jack O'Brien reveals he used r/noburp to research a medical procedure, showing why patients turn to Reddit.

A live summit changes the format. O'Brien explains that the keynote had a planned structure, but the Slido questions started steering the room. That looseness works. The conversation keeps Reddit's platform pitch close to a more useful question: what does it take for healthcare companies to show up there without sounding like outsiders? Jess keeps coming back to user intent. Reddit, in this telling, is where people go to read, compare information and data, and hear from others in plain language. Language becomes the strategy. Acronyms and insider phrasing can land if they match the culture instead of flattening it. Then misinformation takes over the room. A COVID era question lets the r slash nursing moderator explain how health communities handle claims that could hurt patients. She is direct about it. Moderators remove bad medical information because clinicians use r slash medicine and r slash nursing, and patients can feel the consequences. But the line is not just shut it down. Scientific dissent still gets room when people bring evidence. For companies, the message is pretty plain: fluency matters, proof matters, and moderator boundaries are not optional. The closing breast cancer story gives the session its jolt. A community member brings Reddit sourced advice to an oncologist and changes cancer treatment after reading the community. That is the tension. Reddit is framed as serious healthcare terrain, but trust has to be earned on the community's terms.

As heard by us

A grounded look at Reddit, healthcare messaging, and the balance between trust and moderation.

The MM+M Media Summit keynote treats Reddit as a practical case study for healthcare marketing, with a clear look at how brands reach patients, HCPs, and caregivers through timely, relevant, engaging content.

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Why you'd press play

You want a practical Reddit guide for healthcare brands, with real moderation context and audience Q&A.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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