Alexis Ohanian Is Prepping For Baby By Crowdsourcing

Serena Williams is going to be a mother very soon. In December, the world renowned tennis pro announced that she was engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and a few months later in April, the couple announced they were expecting their first child together. In a matter of a few short months, they will be parents for the first time, but in the meantime, have quite a bit of preparing to do. So just how are Ohanian and Williams preparing for the birth of their baby? Unsurprisingly, the couple are using the advice of others to get a little head start.

Until Ohanian started dating Williams, one of the greatest tennis players of our time, his name was more known in the tech community than in the sports world. But people are paying a lot of attention to Ohanian and his life and work now — especially his relationship with Williams and his preparation for baby no. 1's arrival.

In a recent interview with New York Magazine's The Cut, Ohanian talked about the impending birth and his role as a soon-to-be father for the first time. Specifically, he's taking a cue from the discussion-based website he co-founded when he was 22 years old, Reddit, and using it to crowdsource for tips from those who have gone before him. Ohanian told The Cut:

The most obvious thing to do is to seek out advice. That's a pretty simple thing that I think most people do. What's been extra illuminating is subscribing to a number of these communities on Reddit to get advice, guidance, and feedback from parents — none of whom I actually know.

There is nothing wrong with seeking the advice of others — especially when there are a lot of people to get advice from. It's just like getting parenting advice from your neighbor or Great Aunt Joan, except through a website that averaged roughly 300 million site views per month, as of May 2017. And unlike the advice from Great Aunt Joan, this is advice that you can choose to pay attention to or ignore, without offending anyone.

But Ohanian isn't just taking advice from Reddit, he's using other websites, too. According to The Cut, he's using Twitter to snag some advice from followers as well. Because when you have a major following on multiple websites, its nice to have options.

If you want to follow in Ohanian's footsteps, it's super easy. There are dozens of subreddits for seasoned parents or those who are expecting their first child. From birth stories to posts about baby bumps; from parenting advice to everything you need to know about potty training — there is seriously a subreddit for any question or any hilarious parenting story you may want to read. And you don't even have to make a Reddit account to learn from the trials and tribulations of others — you can just scour the website sans username.

Ohanian is obviously looking forward to meeting the little one in person, but he clearly hasn't forgotten his roots or the company that made him famous. "I'm looking forward to this being my greatest creation," Ohanian told The Cut of his unborn child. "But this is everything, this is family."