Reddit Karma 101: Here's How It Works And How To Get It (2024)

BySiddharth DudejaFebruary 15, 2022December 22, 2022Updated onDecember 22, 2022

Reddit has many features, and one of them is the ‘Karma’ voting system. Much like the Like and Dislike buttons on YouTube, the platform has an in-house voting system where users get positive or negative points upon receiving upvotes or downvotes. Likewise, these points are called Karma, and you gain a point on every upvote and lose one on every downvote.

Karma is a public representation of every Reddit user, and people can know a lot about your profile by checking your Karma number. If you’re an avid Redditor, you can get certain benefits from a high number of points. For instance, you can only join specific communities or subreddits if you meet their Karma threshold.

How does Reddit Karma work?

There are upvote and downvote buttons next to every post and comment on Reddit. When you click on one of these buttons, you either give a positive or negative Karma to the author of the post/comment. Consequently, the net amount of positive or negative points reflects the user’s Karma score.

There are two types of Karma points: Post Karma and Comment Karma. You can get either one of them from a post or comment.

Reddit uses the voting system to show the best content to its users accurately. If a post or comment has a lot of points, more users will see them first and upvote/downvote them. Similarly, downvoted posts and comments end at the bottom of the page, and some are even hidden.

You might see a cross symbol across a post or comment, highlighting that it is controversial. A controversial post or comment means that it has a similar (and high) number of upvotes and downvotes.

A user’s Reddit Karma is visible on their profile on a dedicated counter. The totaled Karma points are conclusive of both Post Karma and Comment Karma.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Karma doesn’t have any practical value in real life. For the same reason, people often refer to Karma as “imaginary points” on the internet. The only thing that Reddit Karma represents is how active you are on the platform.

How to get Karma on Reddit?

The rule of thumb on Reddit is that you should upvote every post you like and vice-versa. Upvoting or downvoting a post decides the post’s credibility and relevance and if other people see it or not.

If you’re having trouble deciding if a “good post” deserves an upvote or not, some communities have guidelines for judging the same. The same goes for comments, too, since they also play a part in deciding a user’s Reddit Karma.

If you think you will get a lot of upvotes followed by more Karma points, you might be wrong. It doesn’t take much time for Reddit users to identify if your post is an original creation or not. Hence, you need to work up your mind and come up with something original.

The key to obtaining more Reddit Karma is to submit original and organic content in your posts and comments. This doesn’t mean you should randomly enter a subreddit and start posting about it. The entire process takes patience and time, or just natural skills.

You should find a subreddit that matches your interests and topics you’re curious about. There, it would help if you came up with content (memes, questions, answers, and more) and engaged in ongoing discussions. If people find your content worthy of upvoting, you’ll get Reddit Karma.

There are also other chances of getting a lot of Karma, but they are pretty time-sensitive. For example, you find big news that just came in and was posted on a relevant subreddit. Since the discussion on Reddit posts can go a long way, you will get many upvotes and, consequently, more Karma.

Frequently Asked Questions