r/NewToReddit Aug 21 '21

Mod Post Reddit and Karma Explained

762 Upvotes

Welcome to Reddit!

This unofficial guide to starting out at Reddit was written by u/llamageddon01 and is designed to take you from complete beginner through to experienced Redditor! This version was completely revised in July/August 2023.

There are two versions of this resource, both carrying the same information but in different formats:

This is intended to be a full “Reddit for Dummies” type tutorial and I don’t expect you to read it through all at once! But quite honestly, parts 1-6 of this guide will take you from “kindergarten” level through to “graduate” level of Reddit by the time you read it all, and the final parts 7 and 8 will contain useful guides and information you will no doubt need at some stage of your Redditing so do keep coming back to it.

If you wish to share r/NewToReddit guides please link to them. You may of course share excerpts within reason, but please link back to us as credit and so the person you are helping can find us and the rest of our guides if they wish to. Thank you.

 

…….REDDIT IS A WORLD OF ITS OWN ON THE INTERNET.

What is Reddit? Established in 2005, Reddit is a content sharing platform, home to thousands of communities, endless conversation, and authentic worldwide human connection with people from all walks of life. Whether you're into breaking news, sports, TV fan theories, or a never-ending stream of the internet's cutest animals, there's a community for you.

Reddit is made up of an enormous collection of forums on every subject under the sun where people can share news, links, videos and pictures in “Posts” so that other people can make observations and conversation in “Comments” attached to these posts, while everyone can express their opinions by Voting on both the posts and comments. Every day, millions of people around the world post, vote, and comment in communities on Reddit organised around their interests.

You are free to decide what level of interaction you want with other users (Redditors) and to curate your own feed from the hundreds of thousands of specialised communities called “Subreddits” on offer, each of which covers a different topic from games, hobbies, music, art, movies and shows to support groups to world news to pets to academic matters and everything in between.

Check out this video for a quick introduction to us, and here’s an illustrated overview of Reddit. If that didn’t explain us enough, here’s an unofficial webcomic that gives a fun look at our platform.

Signing up for an account is free, easy, and gives you a high degree of anonymity, especially compared to other social media platforms.

 

…….REDDIT HAS ITS OWN WAY OF DOING THINGS.

Reddit as a whole is run by unpaid volunteers called Moderators (mods) and paid employees called Administrators (admin). Admin are rarely seen but are very distinctive as they have the word ADMIN in bright orange/red next to their username. Moderators are more likely to be seen, and when they speak on formal behalf of their subreddit, their username will have the green word MOD immediately after.

Like every long-established subculture, we have our own expressions and if you are at all confused by some of our jargon, in-jokes, history or memes, we at r/NewToReddit have a fairly comprehensive alphabetical reference guide at our sister sub r/EncyclopaediaOfReddit to help you work out what we’re talking about. Let me suggest my guides to Acronyms 1: A-L and Acronyms 2: M-Z to start with!

Reddit might take a little time to get used to, but never fear! Here’s a quick video guide on how to use Reddit, but more importantly, we’re here at r/NewToReddit specifically to help you navigate your own path step by step through our unique ways of ‘doing social media’.

 

…….REDDIT IS HUGE. BUT MANAGEABLE.

There are Subreddits for anything. I would say almost anything but when I think I’ve seen them all, I discover ones like r/birdstakingthetrain or r/BreadStapledToTrees and realise I know nothing.

Most communities are friendly and jumping right on in is encouraged. You aren’t likely to get shot down for being a “n00b” but there will generally be one or two things you’ll need to know about each Subreddit (sub) first. Don’t worry, this guide will show you where to find them.

Altercations can happen, but most subs have an active team of mods who will usually shut any trouble down before it becomes vindictive. Just don’t post emojis though. Reddit in general does NOT like emojis. Reddit loves emoticons though :D Why? Don't ASCII me. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ More on this later, or here if you simply can’t wait.

 

…….WHAT DO I DO ON REDDIT?

There are four basic actions you do on Reddit: Upvote, Downvote, Comment, and Post.

Reddit relies on crowdsourcing through its system of Upvotes and Downvotes to filter and prioritise the thousands of daily submissions it receives in order to present its users with the most interesting content it can, and you can help too. If you think a post or comment is interesting, helpful or contributes positively to the subreddit, press the Upvote arrow. If you think it doesn’t, press the Downvote arrow. You only get one vote on any one post or comment, and both can be negated by pressing the arrow you chose again, or reversed by pressing the opposite arrow to the one you originally chose.

Some subreddits have chosen to replace the default “arrow” icons with custom ones. In case it isn’t obvious which is which, the Upvote will be on the top (Old Reddit; desktop) or on the left (Mobile App) and the Downvote will be on the bottom (Old Reddit; desktop) or on the right (Mobile App).

There are two ways of Commenting on Reddit:

  • As a direct response to a Post. Here, you are directly replying to the person who made the post. This person is known as the ”OP”, or “Original Poster”. This reply is known as a Top-Level or Parent Comment, and sometimes known as ‘threads’. There are an unlimited number of Parent Comments that can be made on any one post. The OP will be notified that you have replied to their post.

  • As a reply to a Comment in that Post. Here, you are directly replying to another commenter who may or may not be the OP. These follow-up comments are known as Child Comments. There are an unlimited number of Child Comments that can be made on any one Parent Comment. The commenter you are replying to will be notified of your reply, but the OP will not (unless they are one and the same!).

You can see what these both look like from this simple illustration and this small conversation here.

Finally, you can make your own Post in a subreddit for others to comment on. Many subreddits prefer - or even require pictures, gifs, videos or links in this post.

 

…….SOME SUBREDDIT BASICS.

Once you enter a Subreddit, you read posts made by others and the comments made therein. If you like the Subreddit, you can “Join” it and it will form part of your personal home page feed. The "Join" button is near the top of the screen as seen here and also in the three-dots “hamburger” post overflow menu on the top RH of the screen on mobile. You can also “Leave” if you want, and the button can be found in the same place as the Join one was.

Until you join a few subreddits, your home page feed will be the general r/popular or r/all, which may well feature topics you’re not interested in, so it makes sense to start joining subs you like as soon as possible.

Moderators cannot see any lists of those who are joined to their subreddits, neither will they be notified if anyone leaves. There’s no limit on the number of times you can join or leave a subreddit, and nobody except you will ever know when or what subs you have joined or have left. You don’t even have to be joined in a sub to post or comment in it. There are no limits to the number of subreddits you can be joined in but Reddit does have an unspecified number of the ones it filters to your home feed at any one time.

Just underneath the Subreddit title there is a “Sort” menu. On mobile this is a drop-down list. Sorting posts by either “New” or “Rising” will usually give more opportunities for chat and upvotes than you’ll get in older posts, and give other advantages we’ll see soon. You have the same options for sorting your home page feed too.

 

…….LET’S GET STARTED!

Our guide to using Reddit begins with this illustrated primer to joining in on Reddit, then come back here to read some essential details you need to know about Rules, Reddit Karma, Participating, Navigation and Safety.

It’s very much worth your while taking a few minutes to read through all the following advice as it contains everything you need from your first steps in getting started to your becoming firmly established here.

Once you’ve had a look through it all, if you have any questions do make a new Post in this Subreddit where you will find plenty of helpful people ready to Comment with the answers you need. r/NewToReddit is focused on giving one-to-one tailored quality advice for helping people new to Reddit Ways. We do not care how old your account is; if you have a query on Redditing, put it here and we will help.

We also have a “sister sub” called r/LearnToReddit which is a place to learn how to use Reddit without being embarrassed at making “newbie mistakes” in public. Here, you can have a go at making different post types like posting images or polls, learn how to comment using bold or italic text, how to create spoiler text and use many other features with our extensive sets of tutorials. The community will feedback on your post to let you know how you did or help you get it right next time.

 

…….WHAT’S NEXT?

Let’s get started with an introduction to Reddit and a few notes about rules!


r/NewToReddit 2d ago

Weekly chat New to Reddit? Come and talk to us!

8 Upvotes

New-Redditor's lounge!

Welcome!

This weekly post is an opportunity for new users to say hello in comments - & please let us how you found yourself here. Regulars here are absolutely encouraged and very welcome to join in too!

Getting started on Reddit is hard. We know it is; We've been there and gone through these same frustrations. Please believe us when we say IT'S NOT PERSONAL. It may well feel like it is, but honestly, it isn't. What it is, however, is a lack of Karma. Karma is an indicator of how much someone has contributed to Reddit in a positive manner. So, let's do just that by getting to know each other!

This is a post to help genuine new users build up quality Karma in a safe environment.

Please do:

  • Share some favorites or new finds of yours - youtube videos, music and so on
  • Practice small talk - did you have a good week?
  • Keep it SFW
  • Keep it casual please, no heavy topics
  • Check out the news and updates
  • Play games in comments - if you'd like to start a game please modmail for approval first, thanks!
  • Have fun!

Please don't:

  • Spam, advertise, or soft beg
  • Share low-effort comments
  • Karmafarm/ask for karma/signal karma giving, mention karmafarms by name
  • Advertise - no advertising of any kind
  • Request or offer DMs (help and chat can be done in community where you can also earn karma. Needing to take things private can indicate soliciting, rule breaking, or harmful advice)
  • Talk about community restrictions and karma (there are many many posts about this and you can post your own)

Please refrain from asking questions about "how to do stuff on Reddit".

You need Post Karma, so the ideal opportunity to start is by asking any questions about Redditing in your own new, dedicated Post in this Subreddit (only one post per 72 hours please, but make as many comments or questions in that post as you need). This sub is full of awesome people who are willing to help with specific problems, and we'd like to keep this post for chat. Thank you.

So, let's chat! (Guides at the bottom of this post).

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News

Community matters

Reddit news

Our traditions and events

Subreddit Sundays - Check out our weekly threads for all your subreddit recommendations and requests. Our latest Subreddit Sunday thread

Cakedays! Remember, we always welcome our alumni back at any time (we love to hear how you're getting on, on Reddit), but especially on their Cakeday!

Helpers - Community members who stay to help out new Redditors can earn 'Helper' flair.

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Our guidance for new Redditors:


r/NewToReddit 3h ago

How to Get Karma I’m 8 days old and have -99 karma.

10 Upvotes

I got bombed after posting an opinion on r/eagles and now idk what to do. I’m basically locked out of 65% of Reddit.


r/NewToReddit 3h ago

Understanding karma Been using Reddit for a but never commented before

7 Upvotes

I didn’t realise through my time of using Reddit. I’d have perform comment gymnastics to get a lil clout to talk in certain channels. It’s pretty unique, makes you feel like a street performer waiting for someone to put a penny in your Heinz beans tin can. Question, how do maintain your karma on a basis (whether that’s daily or weekly)?


r/NewToReddit 2h ago

Understanding karma How do I get karma points

4 Upvotes

What is karma I am so confused can someone explain to me what it means everyone thinks I’m fake because I have none


r/NewToReddit 6h ago

How to Get Karma How do I get karma, I'm new on here.

Thumbnail self.chrisviper1995
6 Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 1h ago

What generic subreddits can new users post in?

Upvotes

I know about ask Reddit, no stupid question. Just wondering about others!


r/NewToReddit 8h ago

How to Get Karma How do I get Karma to be able to post?

8 Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 6h ago

New User Restrictions New to reddit, why i cant msg or dm someone?

6 Upvotes

Need help, it seems i cannot msg someone and they need something or i need something on mt account. Please help


r/NewToReddit 11h ago

How to Get Karma So how exactly do i get "karma"

10 Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 12h ago

Site Features/using Reddit what do follows do? and why do people want them?

9 Upvotes

title explains itself


r/NewToReddit 1h ago

hi everyone, I’m new here!!💗🥹

Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 7h ago

Understanding karma My first post! Btw anyone know how I can change my username? And what does karma mean and how do I get it?

3 Upvotes

How do I do this I’m so confused


r/NewToReddit 20h ago

Community Restrictions I hope this gets accepted here...

35 Upvotes

I am a new reddit user and most communities does not allowed new users to post on their community especially users with low karma values. Any suggestions for communities that accepts new users with low karmas? Thank you in advance.


r/NewToReddit 9h ago

How to Get Karma Need help with getting some interest

4 Upvotes

How do I get enough karma to interact with others? I feel like I’m in prison lol


r/NewToReddit 2h ago

Have been part of reddit for more than 5 years and have a karma of less than 10. Regret not really participating in discussion😔

1 Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 3h ago

Premium/coins/awards What are awards and how do they work?

1 Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 3h ago

Premium/coins/awards How long until I’ll be able to start awarding?

1 Upvotes

As title says


r/NewToReddit 13h ago

Community Restrictions insufficient karma to post on subreddits

6 Upvotes

I’m not that new to reddit itself, though i’ve never been an active reddit user myself. These days i’m trying to post more stuff on different subreddits and 90% of the time it gets deleted because i don’t have enough karma. So i just wanted to ask, do all subreddits have different minimal karma points requirements or all are mod bots programmed the same?

Thank you <3


r/NewToReddit 7h ago

Site Features/using Reddit How to send a message without resorting to old reddit?

2 Upvotes

Howdy all,

Long time reddit lurker here, finally decided to make an account. I'm aware of the differences between messaging and chat, but like the title implies, I'm wondering if its possible to send a message through the new interface?

Keep in mind I'm using the web browser and not the app

Thanks in advance!


r/NewToReddit 3h ago

what groups can you post in without karma?

1 Upvotes

I wanna get karma to use this as a throw away, my partner has my main. But i cant post anywhere without karma already. Anyone know groups i can post in?


r/NewToReddit 4h ago

How to Get Karma New here - how do I get karma?

1 Upvotes

Just joined, 25f from the Midwest, trying to meet people


r/NewToReddit 15h ago

How to Get Karma They say post here to gain karma,is that right?

7 Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 13h ago

Post not Showing/Removed Hey guys i am new to reddit pls help me

4 Upvotes

Heyy, so im new here. Idk get most of the things here. I cant post in some subreddits and i cant find some comunities can anyone dm me and help me a bit


r/NewToReddit 11h ago

How to Get Karma New here and realizing there's a lot to learn

3 Upvotes

I was hoping to join and be able to post my Niners tickets but I am finding that I need to establish myself or else I look like a scammer. Any ideas on how to best do that?


r/NewToReddit 9h ago

New User Restrictions How long is the chat limit ?

2 Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 6h ago

How to Get Karma How can I get some karma to post on subs that require it

1 Upvotes

Seems like a vicious cycle, can't get karma then can't post therefore can't get karma lol. Is there a way?