Karma is like Reddit’s point system to indicate how much a user has contributed to the website. Every upvote a comment or post gets, the user gains karma. You can see how much karma you have by clicking on your username in the upper right of the site for desktop and clicking on your avatar on the upper left for mobile. 

Types of Reddit Karma

There are two types of Karma you can earn: 

  • Comment Karma: Commenting on an existing post that has been receiving upvotes will earn you Comment Karma. 
  • Post Karma: With every text-only post or post of an external link you make, you get Post Karma. 

To view the breakdown of your own Post and Comment Karmas, simply go to your own profile and you will see the overview on the right-hand side of the site. Another way is to type reddit.com and add /u/username. Doing it this way will also show you the profile and overview of the Karma of other users. 

P.S. Want more Reddit Karma? You can now buy Reddit Karma at an affordable price.

What does Reddit Karma do?

Outside of Reddit, Karma actually means nothing. However, if you want to become a valued member of the community, a high Karma score will help you with that. 

Karma is used to establish the credibility of users, so the higher karma you have, the more influence you have based on the content that you post. Take note though that popular content does not mean quality content! Having your posts become popular just means that there are a lot in the community who agree with you. 

There are some subreddits or communities that have a Karma requirement before being allowed to post content. For example, /r/Assistance requires a combined comment and post karma of 300 before making requests or responding to offers. Though it may seem difficult, having a required number of Karma is a good way to weed out spam accounts, zero-day accounts, and trolls. 

A high Karma count will also be beneficial if you want to promote products or content on the site as opposed to having a low or zero Karma. 

How To Get Reddit Karma 

Generally, the best way to gain Karma is to post content that the community finds valuable and interesting, and to comment on posts that are thought-provoking. Following proper reddiquette will also help in giving you more good Karma.

If you want to gain Karma more effectively, here are steps you can follow: 

  1. Subscribe to subreddits with more than one million subscribers or has at least 10,000 online members at a time. 
  2. Become an active member of the community. Whether it is in popular subreddits or not, consistently posting and engaging with posts and other users may give you more upvotes. This is also a good way for you to become known in the community by increasing your Karma score. It may take time though, not everything happens instantly! Here’s a post on how to gain more Reddit upvotes.
  3. Your content must be well-researched! Although this does not technically mean gaining you more points, it will give you more credibility in the community. The more legitimate content that you post, the more that users will read your content knowing that it is valuable. 
  4. Engage with your post by replying to the comments below it. Make sure to follow proper reddiquette though even if you agree or disagree with another user’s comments. Be kind and respectful when stating your point. 
  5. Get a “Karma bomb” by looking for top comments within minutes of it being posted and responding to it with an equally good comment. Once the comment receives a high number of upvotes, chances are your comment will get some too just by being near it. 
  6. Post a link with a clever or funny title. Well-thought-out titles usually get good engagements from the community. 
  7. Avoid posting negative comments or remarks. If you want to increase your good Karma, stay away from commenting negatively and arguing. Instead, contribute to the positive discourse. 

In using Reddit, do not settle just by accumulating Karma. Being a good person is enough. Elevate the discourse with your own thoughts and perspectives.

Mark Rogers
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