What Is Reddit Karma?
Reddit karma is a scoring system that reflects how much a user has contributed to the Reddit community. You earn karma when other users upvote your posts or comments, and lose it when they downvote. There are two types: post karma (from submissions) and comment karma (from replies).
Karma isn't a 1:1 ratio with upvotes — Reddit uses a fuzzy algorithm that diminishes returns as vote counts increase. Your total karma score is displayed on your profile and serves as a rough indicator of your credibility and activity on the platform.
Why It Matters for Marketers
Karma is your reputation currency on Reddit. Many subreddits have minimum karma requirements to post or comment, which means new accounts can't just show up and start promoting. This is by design — it forces marketers to build genuine credibility before participating.
High karma signals that you're a trusted community member, which makes your recommendations and product mentions far more effective. Users are more likely to engage with and trust content from accounts with established karma scores.
For Reddit marketing, this means you need to invest time in building karma through valuable contributions before attempting any promotional activity.
Examples
- A SaaS founder who spends weeks helping users in r/startups before mentioning their product has built up enough karma and goodwill to be taken seriously.
- An account with 1 karma posting product links will likely be flagged as spam and removed by moderators or automod filters.
- Some subreddits like r/entrepreneur require 50+ comment karma to create new posts.
How RedShip Helps
RedShip monitors Reddit conversations in real time, helping you find the right threads where you can add genuine value and build karma naturally. Instead of randomly commenting, you can focus on conversations where your expertise is actually needed — building credibility while positioning your brand.