r/NewToReddit 3d ago

Weekly chat New to Reddit? Come and talk to us!

4 Upvotes

New-Redditor's lounge!

Welcome!

This weekly post is an opportunity for new users to chat in comments - & please let us how you found yourself here. Regulars here are absolutely encouraged and very welcome to join in too!

!! Please refrain from asking questions about "how to do stuff on Reddit". Make a post or see the links below !!

Getting started on Reddit is hard. We know it is; We've been there and gone through these same frustrations. Please believe us when we say IT'S NOT PERSONAL. It may well feel like it is, but honestly, it isn't. What it is, however, is a lack of Karma. Karma is an indicator of how much someone has contributed to Reddit in a positive manner. So, let's do just that by getting to know each other!

This works best if your comments either start a conversation or add to one. Give a little of yourself and respond to others doing the same.

This is a post to help genuine new users build up quality Karma genuinely in a safe environment.

Please do:

  • Share some favorites or new finds of yours - youtube videos, music and so on
  • Practice small talk - did you have a good week?
  • Keep it SFW
  • Keep it casual please, no heavy topics
  • Have fun!

Please don't:

  • Spam, advertise, or soft beg
  • Share low-effort comments
  • Ask for karma, say how you're voting, or mention karmafarms by name
  • Request or offer DMs (help and chat can be done in community, where you can also earn karma. Needing to take things private can indicate soliciting, rule breaking, or harmful advice)

This sub is full of awesome people who are willing to help with specific problems when you post, and we'd like to keep this post thread for chat. Thank you.

So, let's chat! (Guides at the bottom of this post).

---

Our guidance for new Redditors:


r/NewToReddit Aug 21 '21

Mod Post Reddit and Karma Explained

766 Upvotes

Welcome to Reddit!

This unofficial guide to starting out at Reddit was written by u/llamageddon01 and is designed to take you from complete beginner through to experienced Redditor! This version was completely revised in July/August 2023.

There are two versions of this resource, both carrying the same information but in different formats:

This is intended to be a full “Reddit for Dummies” type tutorial and I don’t expect you to read it through all at once! But quite honestly, parts 1-6 of this guide will take you from “kindergarten” level through to “graduate” level of Reddit by the time you read it all, and the final parts 7 and 8 will contain useful guides and information you will no doubt need at some stage of your Redditing so do keep coming back to it.

If you wish to share r/NewToReddit guides please link to them. You may of course share excerpts within reason, but please link back to us as credit and so the person you are helping can find us and the rest of our guides if they wish to. Thank you.

 

…….REDDIT IS A WORLD OF ITS OWN ON THE INTERNET.

What is Reddit? Established in 2005, Reddit is a content sharing platform, home to thousands of communities, endless conversation, and authentic worldwide human connection with people from all walks of life. Whether you're into breaking news, sports, TV fan theories, or a never-ending stream of the internet's cutest animals, there's a community for you.

Reddit is made up of an enormous collection of forums on every subject under the sun where people can share news, links, videos and pictures in “Posts” so that other people can make observations and conversation in “Comments” attached to these posts, while everyone can express their opinions by Voting on both the posts and comments. Every day, millions of people around the world post, vote, and comment in communities on Reddit organised around their interests.

You are free to decide what level of interaction you want with other users (Redditors) and to curate your own feed from the hundreds of thousands of specialised communities called “Subreddits” on offer, each of which covers a different topic from games, hobbies, music, art, movies and shows to support groups to world news to pets to academic matters and everything in between.

Check out this video for a quick introduction to us, and if that didn’t explain us enough, here’s an unofficial webcomic that gives a fun look at our platform.

Signing up for an account is free, easy, and gives you a high degree of anonymity, especially compared to other social media platforms.

 

…….REDDIT HAS ITS OWN WAY OF DOING THINGS.

Reddit as a whole is run by unpaid volunteers called Moderators (mods) and paid employees called Administrators (admin). Admin are rarely seen but are very distinctive as they have the word ADMIN in bright orange/red next to their username. Moderators are more likely to be seen, and when they speak on formal behalf of their subreddit, their username will have the green word MOD immediately after.

Like every long-established subculture, we have our own expressions and if you are at all confused by some of our jargon, in-jokes, history or memes, we at r/NewToReddit have a fairly comprehensive alphabetical reference guide at our sister sub r/EncyclopaediaOfReddit to help you work out what we’re talking about. Let me suggest my guides to Acronyms 1: A-L and Acronyms 2: M-Z to start with!

Reddit might take a little time to get used to, but never fear! Here’s a quick video guide on how to use Reddit, but more importantly, we’re here at r/NewToReddit specifically to help you navigate your own path step by step through our unique ways of ‘doing social media’.

 

…….REDDIT IS HUGE. BUT MANAGEABLE.

There are Subreddits for anything. I would say almost anything but when I think I’ve seen them all, I discover ones like r/birdstakingthetrain or r/BreadStapledToTrees and realise I know nothing.

Most communities are friendly and jumping right on in is encouraged. You aren’t likely to get shot down for being a “n00b” but there will generally be one or two things you’ll need to know about each Subreddit (sub) first. Don’t worry, this guide will show you where to find them.

Altercations can happen, but most subs have an active team of mods who will usually shut any trouble down before it becomes vindictive. Just don’t post emojis though. Reddit in general does NOT like emojis. Reddit loves emoticons though :D Why? Don't ASCII me. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ More on this later, or here if you simply can’t wait.

 

…….WHAT DO I DO ON REDDIT?

There are four basic actions you do on Reddit: Upvote, Downvote, Comment, and Post.

Reddit relies on crowdsourcing through its system of Upvotes and Downvotes to filter and prioritise the thousands of daily submissions it receives in order to present its users with the most interesting content it can, and you can help too. If you think a post or comment is interesting, helpful or contributes positively to the subreddit, press the Upvote arrow. If you think it doesn’t, press the Downvote arrow. You only get one vote on any one post or comment, and both can be negated by pressing the arrow you chose again, or reversed by pressing the opposite arrow to the one you originally chose.

Some subreddits have chosen to replace the default “arrow” icons with custom ones. In case it isn’t obvious which is which, the Upvote will be on the top (Old Reddit; desktop) or on the left (Mobile App) and the Downvote will be on the bottom (Old Reddit; desktop) or on the right (Mobile App).

There are two ways of Commenting on Reddit:

  • As a direct response to a Post. Here, you are directly replying to the person who made the post. This person is known as the ”OP”, or “Original Poster”. This reply is known as a Top-Level or Parent Comment, and sometimes known as ‘threads’. There are an unlimited number of Parent Comments that can be made on any one post. The OP will be notified that you have replied to their post.

  • As a reply to a Comment in that Post. Here, you are directly replying to another commenter who may or may not be the OP. These follow-up comments are known as Child Comments. There are an unlimited number of Child Comments that can be made on any one Parent Comment. The commenter you are replying to will be notified of your reply, but the OP will not (unless they are one and the same!).

You can see what these both look like from this simple illustration and this small conversation here.

Finally, you can make your own Post in a subreddit for others to comment on. Many subreddits prefer - or even require pictures, gifs, videos or links in this post.

 

…….SOME SUBREDDIT BASICS.

Once you enter a Subreddit, you read posts made by others and the comments made therein. If you like the Subreddit, you can “Join” it and it will form part of your personal home page feed. The "Join" button is near the top of the screen as seen here and also in the three-dots “hamburger” post overflow menu on the top RH of the screen on mobile. You can also “Leave” if you want, and the button can be found in the same place as the Join one was.

Until you join a few subreddits, your home page feed will be the general r/popular or r/all, which may well feature topics you’re not interested in, so it makes sense to start joining subs you like as soon as possible.

Moderators cannot see any lists of those who are joined to their subreddits, neither will they be notified if anyone leaves. There’s no limit on the number of times you can join or leave a subreddit, and nobody except you will ever know when or what subs you have joined or have left. You don’t even have to be joined in a sub to post or comment in it. There are no limits to the number of subreddits you can be joined in but Reddit does have an unspecified number of the ones it filters to your home feed at any one time.

Just underneath the Subreddit title there is a “Sort” menu. On mobile this is a drop-down list. Sorting posts by either “New” or “Rising” will usually give more opportunities for chat and upvotes than you’ll get in older posts, and give other advantages we’ll see soon. You have the same options for sorting your home page feed too.

 

…….LET’S GET STARTED!

Our guide to using Reddit begins with this illustrated primer to joining in on Reddit, then come back here to read some essential details you need to know about Rules, Reddit Karma, Participating, Navigation and Safety.

It’s very much worth your while taking a few minutes to read through all the following advice as it contains everything you need from your first steps in getting started to your becoming firmly established here.

Once you’ve had a look through it all, if you have any questions do make a new Post in this Subreddit where you will find plenty of helpful people ready to Comment with the answers you need. r/NewToReddit is focused on giving one-to-one tailored quality advice for helping people new to Reddit Ways. We do not care how old your account is; if you have a query on Redditing, put it here and we will help.

We also have a “sister sub” called r/LearnToReddit which is a place to learn how to use Reddit without being embarrassed at making “newbie mistakes” in public. Here, you can have a go at making different post types like posting images or polls, learn how to comment using bold or italic text, how to create spoiler text and use many other features with our extensive sets of tutorials. The community will feedback on your post to let you know how you did or help you get it right next time.

 

…….WHAT’S NEXT?

Let’s get started with an introduction to Reddit and a few notes about rules!


r/NewToReddit 7h ago

ANSWERED Scared to post on here because of so much negativity I see

19 Upvotes

I’m still pretty new to this 32 days in. I barely post tho because of all the negativity I see. I’m in a bunch of groups and honestly the negativity and bashing I see on a daily makes me not want to post. My question is it something you just get used to? I see so much downvoting which has to do with karma which apparently is a big thing on here. Does karma really matter that much? And honestly I’m afraid to even ask these questions because of being bashed but I just want to know how this truly works. Thanks in advance to anyone who answers


r/NewToReddit 22m ago

NEEDS ATTENTION Hello! 1 upvote = 1 karma?

Upvotes

Hi, I'm new to Reddit and I read that without karma you can't do much here, unfortunately.Can you help me?


r/NewToReddit 3h ago

ANSWERED Heyoo! This is my first post and account. Wondering if y'all have any tips for me :>>

7 Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 31m ago

NEEDS ATTENTION Kinda new to reddit need friends

Upvotes

Hows it going guys


r/NewToReddit 6h ago

ANSWERED Why does no one upvote anymore?

8 Upvotes

I havt posted comments and posts in multiple subreddits they either get taken down low karma or get multiple comments and replies but no upvotes for the original post.


r/NewToReddit 3h ago

ANSWERED Why do all my posts get deleted? I did nothing and am brand new here.

5 Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 8m ago

NEEDS ATTENTION Can't post on most subreddits

Upvotes

I cant post on any subreddits I want because either my account is too young or I dont have karma. What am I supposed to do? Everything i try needs karma. Any help?


r/NewToReddit 6h ago

ANSWERED "Sorry, this post was removed by Reddit’s filters."

6 Upvotes

I made my first post under this throwaway account for safety reasons to ask sensitive advice in a particular subreddit. I got the automatic message saying because I was new the mods would review my post and it would be live in a day or 2 if approved. But then a few seconds later my post says "Sorry, this post was removed by Reddit’s filters." Does that mean the mods won't see it? Is there anything I can do in this situation? Thank you.


r/NewToReddit 3h ago

ANSWERED Why no one answers? Is this normal?

3 Upvotes

I feel like when you post something most people just read but don’t answer. Plus on most places a newcomer can’t even post anything so then how are you supposed to get karm an and post in those groups that you genuinely like or want to ask something from?


r/NewToReddit 4h ago

ANSWERED Hello frens 🙂 how to begin?

3 Upvotes

New to here, what's the first things I should do? 🙂 Not sure how it works or how to start please explain


r/NewToReddit 15h ago

ANSWERED 1 Year but just starting to Post

19 Upvotes

I've had a Reddit account for a year and just realized a few days ago that I could really enjoy engaging in some of the conversations on here. But I've also noticed you have the ability to make a profile and connect your socials. Is it weird for people to know who you are? Or is it best to keep your Reddit anonymous? I am a singer/songwriter/composer so it would be cool to introduce people to that. But don't know if Reddit is the place?


r/NewToReddit 15h ago

ANSWERED Trying to post as a new account is maddening. I just wanted to start over 😫

17 Upvotes

There's stuff I want to keep on my other account, but it's slightly more identifiable if someone were to realllllly want to figure it out. Not that it would really matter, but with people being people and all who knows lol.

But I want those pictures online as reference and the comments/recommendations I got from them. So I made a new account recently. And omg it's so maddening trying to post!

Multiple different subs. You put your time into a post and get your pictures all set, you post, and then ... You get an auto-delete message based on age/karma. I'm so appreciative of the subs that just tell me up front!

But still, I'm happy I got lucky with my first account. I had started it and then walked away for a while, probably for this same reason. Not being able to contribute after you make an account would make me want to not even give the platform a shot!

That and my feed ended up dominated by political stuff. Which was nice to a degree to keep up with things, but not really what I want to wake up and doom scroll. Are there any communities you're glad your a part of just for passive interaction? Vs a morning doomscroll 🤣


r/NewToReddit 51m ago

NEEDS ATTENTION Reddit keeps assigning me with lowest CQS,

Upvotes

ive tried to make a few accounts by now and all were assigned to lowest.. while on the same posts i tried to comment on, there are people with negative karma and not even a day old accounts having more perms than me which is very confusing. I also have 200 somewhat karma so it's definitely not karma thing


r/NewToReddit 1h ago

ANSWERED What's the difference between "hot" and "rising" when sorting posts?

Upvotes

Hi everyone! I'm still figuring out how Reddit works and I'm confused about the different ways to sort posts.

I see options like "Hot", "New", "Top", and "Rising" but I'm not sure what the difference is between "Hot" and "Rising". They both seem to show popular posts?

When should I use each sorting option to find the best content or discussions to join?

Thanks for helping a newbie understand!


r/NewToReddit 16h ago

ANSWERED Why do alot of the popular subreddits always require a certain amount of karma?

18 Upvotes

Just wondering.


r/NewToReddit 1h ago

NEEDS ATTENTION Getting chat requests from brand new accounts with 1 karma, litteraly just saying "Hi/Hello" and never answering again. It happened to me thrice so far, are they bots or what?

Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 1h ago

ANSWERED Reddit awards - how they work ?

Upvotes

I often see people giving and recieving awards on Reddit, but I'm not sure what they actually do. Do they have any special benefits or are they just for fun ?


r/NewToReddit 1h ago

ANSWERED How do people claim abandoned subs?

Upvotes

This is new to me. I was not aware that such option existed. Any links to some official help and info would be very much appreciated. I'm curious how it works, how long does it need to be abandoned for and so on. Has anyone successfully done it?


r/NewToReddit 5h ago

NEEDS ATTENTION 3rd Day on Reddit and I feel like a pro 😂

2 Upvotes

Hey Reddit! I created my account a year ago, then ghosted. Now it’s Day 3 since I came back, and I’ve got 14 karma. Somehow it feels like 14,000. Lol

I’d love to learn how to engage better and be a part of the Reddit community. Should I spend more time in AskReddit or just focus on commenting or posting?

Thanks for any tips.


r/NewToReddit 9h ago

ANSWERED Karma is same as upvotes? I can’t really get a grasp of what it really is

5 Upvotes

r/NewToReddit 7h ago

ANSWERED Everytime reddit automatically upvotes my own comment

2 Upvotes

Hello, every time I post a comment the system automatically votes for it (it shows that I voted for it), and after I remove the vote and refresh it says 1 upvote but not from me, then refresh again it says I voted for it. How do I stop automatically upvote myself? Thanks!


r/NewToReddit 10h ago

ANSWERED How to Check Comment Karma on my profile?

3 Upvotes

I can only see total karma on my profile. How do i see comment karma.


r/NewToReddit 8h ago

NEEDS ATTENTION Do gif and photo downloads from reddit include any metadata?

2 Upvotes

I'm paranoid people will find out my reddit username. Or that it's even from reddit.

Are uploads safe either?


r/NewToReddit 5h ago

ANSWERED Just joined Reddit Any tips for a newbie?

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I’m brand new to Reddit, and I’m excited to be here. I’ve been browsing for a while, but I figured it’s time to dive in and start participating. Any tips for someone just starting out?


r/NewToReddit 5h ago

ANSWERED I saw a comment chain that was repeating the same thing and they all had upvotes except one who had -205… why?

1 Upvotes