26 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Reddit and Karma Explained
A thing you will find out very quickly is that as a new Redditor, you aren’t able to post in some places; either your post is removed or a time limit gets put on your next post or comment.
While you are in this initial period, it is highly likely that your lack of Reddit XP will mean your first few posts or comments will be removed by one of our automatic removal systems. While we understand this can be extremely frustrating, please be assured that this is NOT PERSONAL. We don’t think you’re spamming unless you are, of course[1]. Almost everyone currently active here has gone through this same annoying stage of finding out where they can and can not post, but it doesn’t last long. What you need is to build up your Reddit XP in the form of Reddit Karma.
1: https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043504051
Very simplistically,[2] Reddit Karma is an approximation of the upvotes you get on your posts and comments throughout Reddit, minus any downvotes you might get. Your own upvote and downvote score is visible to others, but nobody can tell what individual posts or comments you upvote or downvote.
2: https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204511829-What-is-karma-
Despite appearances at first, there isn’t a 1:1 relationship between votes and Karma, as voting is filtered through a behind-the-scenes algorithm we call “Vote Fuzzing”; an automatic spam-reducing process built in by Reddit that slightly changes the vote counts on posts and comments each time you refresh the page. You can see the effect for yourself by trying the following example: I just upvoted a comment, and it showed three upvotes. Then I refreshed the page and it showed four upvotes. Then I refreshed again, and it showed two upvotes. That's vote fuzzing in action.
Reddit Karma is therefore an indicator of how much someone has contributed to Reddit in a positive manner. However annoying it is with an honest new account to build up Karma, this method really is an effective barrier to prevent spammers and scammers from creating unlimited new accounts to unleash unchecked havoc and mayhem.
There are two types of Reddit Karma: Comment Karma and Post Karma. Very simply , they work like this: if people like what you say on a post or comment, they give it a positive upvote. If they don't like it they give it a negative downvote. The ‘points’ you get from these actions are called Karma, and will show on your profile as one cumulative total[3]. However, Comment Karma is the most important to you in your early days of Redditing.
3: https://i.redd.it/8nb51tav0qfb1.jpg
You can find a breakdown of your Comment vs Post Karma[4] along with a karma breakdown by subreddit by pasting this link into a browser: https://old.reddit.com/user/me/[5]
4: https://i.redd.it/26j9eos41qfb1.jpg
5: https://old.reddit.com/user/me/
As you know, there are two main ways of communication on Reddit: commenting on other people’s posts and making posts of your own. Commenting will earn you Comment Karma and posting will earn you Post Karma.
The Reddit Karma you need right now as a new Redditor is Comment Karma. Many subs won’t allow you to post without accruing some Comment Karma first, so the more Comment Karma you have, the more subs will open to you for posts, so it makes sense to just gain your Reddit XP with quality comments for now.
Reddit will automatically give you one upvote for each and every comment you make. Think of it like a “thank you” for participating. Don’t remove it; it isn’t the narcissistic upvoting of yourself that it appears to be, and you should ignore the upvote like everyone else does. This upvote will not earn you Comment Karma but will stop your comment from appearing as if it has already been downvoted.
Reddit will automatically give you one upvote for each and every post you make. Think of it like a “thank you” for participating. Again, don’t remove it; it isn’t the narcissistic upvoting of yourself that it appears to be, and you should ignore the upvote like everyone else does. This upvote will not earn you Post Karma but will stop your post from appearing as if it has already been downvoted.
No, unfortunately it can’t. The problem to you as a new user is that one or both of these actions may be barred to you, depending on what Subreddit you are trying to use.
Every sub has its own rules, karma requirements and moderators all totally unique to that community, and very few subreddits will tell you their minimum karma level basically to avoid spammers or low-quality participants. It is usually advisable to wait until you have built up a decent amount of general Comment Karma throughout Reddit - at least 50 or so - before trying to make your own Posts. That leaves Commenting as your best option right now, and fortunately, there are a few big and busy subs that don’t require Karma to make comments, which we will get onto soon.
6: https://www.reddit.com/r/NewToReddit/comments/p8t966/comment/juik62t/
Comment by llamageddon01 at 02/08/2023 at 18:21 UTC*
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
We’ve just learned what Reddit Karma is and how you can get it. We’re now going to learn that it can be taken away…
To borrow a well-known phrase: *“The value of your karma can go down as well as up and the resulting access to Reddit from it is not guaranteed at any time.”* The good news is that there is no attrition rate on karma. Spend six days, weeks or months away from Reddit and (barring up or downvotes received) your accrued karma will be much the same as you left it.
However, gather enough downvotes and you will see that you can get negative karma. Both negative and positive karma are capped on individual posts and comments, but negative karma can build up very quickly. A phenomenon on Reddit is known as the “Hivemind”. Things often happen on Reddit that are inexplicable and therefore attributed to the Hivemind, such as mass downvoting. Sometimes a post will get a downvote and for no other apparent reason than the ‘bandwagon effect’ others will downvote it too until it gains negative traction and is r/DownvotedToOblivion.
The amount of negative Comment karma displayed on a user's profile page is capped at -100 and Post karma can't go below 0.[1] However, that’s only a visual display. It does not reflect the total negative karma that might have been accumulated invisibly in which case, even after many upvotes it will still show as -100.
1: https://www.reddit.com/r/changelog/comments/2d0rdg/reddit_change_total_comment_karma_shown_on_a/
Negative karma will therefore be hard to come back from especially if you acquire it early in your Reddit journey. It will even stop you from just commenting on some subreddits if they are configured to preclude accounts with negative karma; one of the ways subreddits defend themselves against potential trolls.
Ways to avoid getting negative karma include:
Of course, Reddit is not all “sweetness and light”, and you might find yourself dealing with unexpected conflict, in which case you might find this guide useful: Knowing Your Audience, Asking Questions and Dealing With Trolls[2].
2: https://www.reddit.com/r/NewToReddit/comments/oddwsk/sunday_funday/
You may come across Karmafarms: subreddits advertising free upvotes or karma. Do not be tempted by them no matter what you might read or be told elsewhere. The ‘users’ there are mostly spambots engaged in a ‘voting-go-round’ for many reasons (more later) that you absolutely don’t want your account associated with. You will know from the name of the sub if it’s a Karmafarm; most make no attempt to hide their purpose and even have the word Karma or Upvote in their name.
Posting in subreddits meant for “gaming” the Reddit system can also get you banned from an increasing number of subreddits who use User-History Based Moderation[3] or you might even receive a Shadowban[4] from Reddit itself. We have seen plenty of Redditors to whom this has happened and it is frustrating to deal with on both sides.
3: https://www.reddit.com/r/EncyclopaediaOfReddit/comments/110nh0k/userhistory_based_moderation/
4: https://www.reddit.com/r/EncyclopaediaOfReddit/comments/110nafl/shadowban/
Asking for (or offering) upvotes or Karma with no other effort to engage or query being made will not be tolerated in any way, shape or form. This is not a Karmafarming sub, and any attempts will be deleted and a ban imposed for repeated infractions.
Names of Karmafarms should not be mentioned in this sub. Posts or comments suggesting, hinting, naming or linking to Karmafarms will be deleted with a clear warning and a ban will be imposed on repeated attempts.
We can warn someone against Karmafarms without naming them. We do NOT promote the use of Karmafarms, and a name or link to one is absolutely a promotion whether you meant it that way or not.
You should also make sure you don’t talk *about* upvotes or karma outside this subreddit. In almost any other subreddit, the very mention of the words can be interpreted as karmafarming which will be heavily downvoted and can even get you a ban in some places.
There are very few places on Reddit that will address genuine queries on Karma, and we want to assure you that you can safely talk about and ask genuine questions about karma here at r/NewToReddit so long as there’s no bragging, offering, trading or begging for upvotes or karma, and NO mention of karmafarms by name.
