Comment by llamageddon01 on 21/10/2021 at 18:27 UTC*

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies (showing 0)

View submission: The NewToReddit Encyclopaedia Redditica v2

Free Awards

Awards are normally purchased using Reddit Coins but you occasionally get given a free award by Reddit to confer on any post or comment you think is deserving. Check the “Get Coins” icon[1] at the top RH of the page - on some platforms, a red strikethrough will indicate a free award (or a special offer on purchasing coins) is available. On some platforms, if it says “Sale” instead of “Get Coins”, the free award might be hidden behind it. The icon might even just change to say "free"[2]. On the new design of the mobile app, the option is totally hidden behind the “Reddit Coins”[3] option on your profile, and there’s no way of knowing if there’s a free award to claim until you click the option to check.

1: https://i.redd.it/4kicigc5s8w81.jpg

2: https://i.redd.it/8g3gca48s8w81.jpg

3: https://i.redd.it/5clbyetau8w81.jpg

Sometimes you might see an “advertise” button where it usually says “get coins”. The “coins” button is still there next to it, albeit reduced to a small icon resembling a small stack of coins with a C in the centre.

Either way, you click on “Free” and it gives you the opportunity to claim a free award that you can give to any post or comment you want within 24 hours. If you claim it but don’t use the award in that time, it will simply vanish.

As I say, you have 24 hours to give the free award from when you open the box, but if you don’t click the “free” icon and claim the award once it appears, it will stay on your profile until you do. Free awards don’t accumulate, however, so if you leave the icon there for, let’s say a month, when you click it there will only be one free award whereas had you claimed it immediately you might have been given multiple free awards in that same time period.

There is no set pattern to being given these awards; not one that Reddit lets on about in any event, but there has been much speculation about it being tied to positive karma growth. It is true to my experience that the free awards come in waves; sometimes I’ll get one a week, but at other times it has been less frequent (and at one time even more frequent) than that.

The free awards are usually low cost with a general meaning; either Wholesome, Helpful, Reddit Silver or Hugz. However, you should know that the Wholesome Award has become notorious for being used to react inappropriately to serious events and tragedies among other situations[4]. Don’t do this. It isn’t nice. The types of awards change from time to time and during early 2022, many people reported they had stopped receiving the Hugz award. I myself have only had Silver for the last few times I’ve claimed them (at time of writing).

Comment by llamageddon01 on 21/10/2021 at 18:27 UTC*

Free Awards

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