I found the link from r/privacy as well.

Looking at a web search for how the masses of people found reddit, most stated they heard about it from someone on youtube, and went to go check it out. Maybe look to get more people from sites other than reddit as well.

FWIW I also know early on reddit a lot of bot accounts they used to populate the service and make it feel like more people were there.

(Interesting How reddit started youtube video link)[https://youtu.be/RPN2vmZl4kA?t=345]

Things have defiantly changed on the internet since then but I honestly think the best thing for here is to add the good diverse content people are looking for, It will keep people coming back and recommending it to others.