https://www.reddit.com/r/ModSupport/comments/cpe06f/why_are_give_me_karma_subreddits_allowed/
created by SpriteGuy_000 on 12/08/2019 at 15:36 UTC
109 upvotes, 8 top-level comments (showing 8)
I will not list specific subreddits unless asked, but I'm not sure why subreddits where karma and upvotes are exchanged, requested, or begged for are allowed. Even though everything in both reddiquette[1], as well as Reddit's Content Policy[2] specifically references asking for "votes", I believe the intent of the rule is to prevent artificial accumulation of "karma".
1: https://www.reddit.com/wiki/reddiquette
2: https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy
Any feedback or guidance on the rules would be appreciated, as these kinds of subreddits are a very easy way to circumvent low-karma posting rules that many subreddits use (including my main one, r/Overwatch).
Comment by kethryvis at 12/08/2019 at 20:03 UTC
23 upvotes, 5 direct replies
Hey there! This is a good question, and it's definitely something we’ve struggled with.
As Reddit grew but our anti-spammer and anti-bot preventions didn’t, many subreddits implemented account karma and age minimums as a stopgap effort. Since then, we’ve built much more powerful tools that action the majority of spam and bot accounts automatically (note the word "majority" there; we're not perfect!), however many of these rules remain intact. Unfortunately, that means that often these rules are punishing newbie redditors who legitimately want to participate…but their first experience with Reddit is their content being removed, and sometimes silently if the mods haven’t set up automod to notify them. This can make it very hard for newbies to get involved in Reddit and in various communities even if they have quality contributions. We don’t want an echo chamber, so we want a way for newbies to (respectfully, while following the rules) contribute. Karma subreddits are a stopgap created by users, and obviously there are downsides there. We’re looking at some ideas now to try to address the problem in a way that prevents spam and trolling while allowing newbies to contribute. If we can accomplish that, then ideally both karma minimum rules AND karma subreddits can go away.
We're always looking for new and better solves though, so please comment if you have any ideas!
Comment by jippiejee at 12/08/2019 at 16:01 UTC
38 upvotes, 3 direct replies
They're actually pretty nice to identify shitposters. Anyone posting there first instead of accumulating karma through organic participation is an instaban for us.
Comment by MFA_Nay at 12/08/2019 at 15:51 UTC
9 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Didn't realise it was in the Content Policy.
There's not really an option in www.reddit.com/report from what I can see.
Definitely link the Content Policy and quote that section. It'll speed up the process IMO.
Comment by Yanky_Doodle_Dickwad at 12/08/2019 at 15:56 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Conspiracy theory warning
The *meaning* of "upvote" might be in a transition period, so the "don't beg for karma" thing is getting less and less significant. I mean if you have a site that says "upvote means relevance", but 2 billion users saying "not it don't" then you'd have to be a pretty thick-skinned marketing department not to agree and cave in.
Comment by daninger4995 at 12/08/2019 at 17:21 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
They are stupid but to be honest I don’t think people get very much karma on them. And maybe Reddit uses them to identify spammer? Idk
Comment by Halaku at 12/08/2019 at 15:43 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Lazy Admins.
Comment by aazav at 20/10/2019 at 03:21 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
subreddits*
No apostrophe on a plural. : /
Comment by ixcam999 at 09/11/2019 at 11:39 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
We need a captcha every time a new user post something, also users should be able to report these accounts as spam like 5 spam reports and this user loses the ability to post on that sub until it's account is checked