Reddit claims to be “the front page to the Internet”, and it is a social media platform that allows users to discuss and vote on content that other users have submitted. To help the site and prevent spammers from bombarding readers, Reddit came up with “karma” points. If you are looking for news, debate, answers or just fun about practically anything you can imagine, Reddit is the place.

Is Reddit free?

Reddit is free to use, and most Redditors never spend a dime there. However, users have the option to buy in-app currency, Reddit Coins, or a paid membership, Reddit Premium. Reddit Coins can be exchanged to give certain posts or comments an award to distinguish it from normal posts and comments. Marketers can use Reddit coins to promote particular posts or reward fans and followers. Reddit Premium is a paid membership that removes ads, gives the user 700 Coins per month, and opens access to the exclusive subreddit r/lounge.

Why should you use Reddit?

  • Whatever your interest, there’s a subreddit for it.
  • Create a network for your business.
  • The site is a goldmine for writers, bloggers, & journalists.
  • You can find experts to answer your questions & etc.

What is Subreddit?

Those specialized forums are called “subreddits,” which are referred to as r/”topic” (example: r/technews). There are more than 155,000 active subreddits. You can read and participate in all of them freely except private subreddits, which require an admission process. You can also subscribe to the subreddits, so their most popular posts appear on your personalized Reddit front page.

Reddit Terms

  • Frontpage: The home page of Reddit, or the user’s main feed. Users can choose what kinds of posts they see on their frontpage by subscribing to their favorite subreddits.
  • Cake Day: The date a user joined Reddit. Cake days are displayed on user profiles.
  • Upvote/Downvote: Reddit’s default is to display posts and comments in order of popularity, determined by user voting. If users like a post or comment, they click the up arrow to upvote it. If they feel that it does not contribute to the discussion, they click the down arrow to downvote it. Posts with the most upvotes appear highest on feeds, while downvoted posts fall to the bottom. Upvotes cancel out downvotes and vice versa, so the scores of truly controversial posts hover around zero, despite thousands of views and votes.
  • Hot/Controversial/Rising: These terms classify posts by voting patterns. Hot means the post has an overwhelming number of upvotes, suggesting it’s well-liked. Controversial means it has a relatively equal number of upvotes and downvotes. Rising means that a post is accumulating upvotes quickly even though it’s new.
  • r/: A prefix denoting a subreddit, taken from the site’s URL. For example, the subreddit for all tech news and discussions is written as r/technews.
  • u/: A prefix denoting a redditor’s username, used in the same way as r/.
  • Karma: Exclusive to Reddit, karma counts the accumulated number of upvotes and downvotes you receive. People who produce content that’s consistently upvoted earn a lot of karma points, but spammers and poor posters might have negative karma. Although there aren’t many practical benefits to karma (except that you need some to start your own subreddit), a good or bad karma may influence how other redditors view your post. Plus, some subreddits require a minimum karma to join to safeguard against spammers. Users have both a Post Karma for posts, and a Comment Karma for comments.
  • OC: “Original Content.” This means that the content of the post is made and owned by the publisher.
  • NSFW: “Not Safe For Work.” A cheeky way to say a post contains nudity, violence, bad language, anything you wouldn’t want your coworkers to see on your computer during work. Reddit flags NSFW posts so that users can filter what kinds of posts appear on their feeds in sensitive situations.

How to earn Karma quickly on Reddit?

  • Post between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. ET on Sunday.
  • Ask open-ended questions in r/AskReddit.
  • Post and comment at r/FreeKarma4U.
  • Comment on new and rising posts.
  • Always respond to keep the conversation going.
  • Stick with larger subreddits.

Search before you share on Reddit

Before you share something, make sure you use the Reddit search feature to check that you’re not reposting something that’s already been shared. You can use short codes to search more accurately.

Here is a list of some of Reddit’s search queries that you can use:

  • Author: The user who submitted the post. (author:techrar)
  • Site: The domain of the submitted URL. (site:techrar.lk)
  • Subreddit: The submission’s subreddit. (subreddit:technews)
  • Title: The submission title. (title:technology)
  • URL: The submission’s URL (the website’s address). (url:tech)

How to post good content on Reddit?

The best way to get upvotes is to post good content. Social media skills can go a long way on Reddit, If you post the kind of content your audience wants, you’ll have no problem earning karma.

  • Golden rule is always read the rules of subreddit.
  • Stick to the rules or face the consequences.
  • Improve the quality of your titles. Make them catchy, attention-grabbing, and a little mysterious.
  • Use high-quality visuals. Upgrading the quality of your photos, videos, gifs, etc. makes your post more appealing.

Bonus tips

  • Reddit thrives on anonymity, and it’s a place where pretty much anything goes.
  • There’s a thriving niche community for seemingly every interest or topic
  • The best way to use Reddit is to find ways to contribute to subreddits and comment threads.
  • It can take time to accrue karma points, but as you do, your influence will grow.
  • There’s a strict code of ethics, and reddiquette is taken very seriously.
  • The safest way to use Reddit for business is to use Reddit ads.
  • Be sure not to abuse the community for self-serving purposes.