Many redditors like to joke that karma is “fake internet points,” and there’s a lot of truth to that. But even fake internet points can have real meaning to people and the communities they contribute to.
On Reddit, your karma is a reflection of how much your contributions mean to the community. How much karma someone has is publicly displayed on their profile.
You can earn karma in a few different ways:
- Posting and commenting
When your posts or comments get upvoted, you gain some karma—so making posts and comments that communities find valuable is the best way to gain karma.
The more upvotes you get, the more karma you’ll receive. However, karma is only an approximate reflection of your upvotes and not a 1:1 relationship. - Giving awards
When you receive or give awards, you also gain some karma. If you give someone an award, you will gain awarder Karma and if you receive an award you will receive awardee Karma. To read more about awards on Reddit, check out What are awards and how do I give them?
Something to keep in mind…
Don't set out to accumulate karma; just set out to be a good person, and let your karma simply be a reflection of your legacy. (And please note: Reddit makes no guarantees about attaining Nirvana).
If you have more questions that aren’t covered in these FAQs, check out r/help. Someone may have had the same question, or you can ask a new one and a Reddit administrator or one of your fellow redditors will help you out.