- Rule 1: All posts must make an attempt at humor.
- Rule 2: No memes or memetic content of any kind.
- Rule 3: No reposts.
- Rule 4: No personal information, hate-speech, or harassment.
- Rule 5: No politics or political figures.
- Rule 6: No forbidden titles, no titles or posts involving Cake Days or upvotes, and no memetic titles.
- Rule 7: No gore, pornography, or animal cruelty.
- Rule 8: No unoriginal comics.
- Rule 9: No pictures of just text.
- Miscellaneous
Rule 1: All posts must make an attempt at humor.
Humor is subjective, but all posts must at least make an attempt at humor.
Posts which are intentionally disruptive, inane, or nonsensical will be removed.
Rule 2: No memes or memetic content of any kind.
Memes of any sort are expressly forbidden. This includes any variety of memetic image or video format, any footage or photographs of memes in real-world or virtual settings (as with "challenges" and other imitated behaviors), "meme numbers" (69, 420, 80085, et cetera), and any derivation or adaptation of memetic content. HIFW, MRW, TFW, MeIRL, and DAE posts are similarly disallowed. Non-memetic image macros are allowed.
As a general guideline, if you are adding text or captions to images or video that you did not personally create from the ground up, you are probably in violation of this rule. Here is a non-exhaustive list of examples:
Anything presented in formats like this is forbidden.
Anything which resembles this submission type is forbidden.
Anything with a passable likeness to this layout is forbidden.
Anything which mirrors content of this variety is forbidden.
Additionally, any video-based media which includes or references memetic content (as with Rickrolling, Ugandan funeral processions, Supa Hot Fire reactions, the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme, or anything of a similar nature) is not allowed.
What is a meme?
/r/Funny uses the word "meme" in the way that its originator intended; to describe an intentionally emulated behavior.
On the Internet, the word often refers to communicating by way of image macros with previously agreed-upon contexts (like you'd see on /r/AdviceAnimals), the act of observing and imitating an activity associated with a popular trend (like Photoshopping Dick Butt into unexpected locations), participating in "challenges" (like the Tide Pod Challenge), and other such things of that ilk (like planking, the Harlem Shake, "send nudes," and so on).
As an additional example, think of Rickrolling: The specific act of tricking someone into viewing the associated music video is a meme, but the video itself is just that— a video. Someone who independently watched the video, enjoyed it, and showed it to a friend would not have been participating in a meme, because conscious imitation is a requirement in order for the word "meme" to apply. However, as the video, song, and lyrics in question are elements of a meme, they would not be allowed in posts on /r/Funny.
What isn't a meme?
Many of the things which people colloquially refer to as "memes" do not actually fall under that label. An image macro – a picture with superimposed text – is not a meme by default, which is why we allow non-memetic image macros here. We also make allowances for certain trends (like creative pumpkin carvings near Halloween) which do not focus on or feature intentional imitation, despite their content being linked by a common theme.
As for why we maintain such a rigid adherence to the original spirit of the word, it's because its colloquial use has grown so unspecific that just about anything could be referred to as a "meme" by someone who doesn't know any better. If we were to embrace every passing definition, /r/Funny wouldn't have any content at all.
What is memetic content?
The word "memetic" (not to be confused with "Mematic," which is a program used to create image macros) is an adjective meaning "pertaining to, referencing, or including memes."
Content which contains or depicts media or behaviors derived from or inspired by memes is memetic in nature. This can be something as simple as a memetic phrase (as with "Yes, officer, this comment!" or "Shut up and take my money!") or as complex as a point-of-view video. ("POV: You're reading /r/Funny's rules.")
In metaphorical terms, a memetic element can be thought of as a drop of dye: If it is placed in a glass of water, all of the fluid will be colored as a result. Similarly, if something memetic is included in a post, the entire post is considered memetic.
Where can I post memes?
- Image-based memetic image macros belong in /r/Memes or /r/AdviceAnimals.
- "How I Feel When" (HIFW, MRW, TRW, TFW) posts belong in /r/HIFW.
- Reaction GIFs belong in /r/ReactionGIFs.
- "Does Anybody Else" (DAE) posts belong in /r/DoesAnybodyElse.
- "Me In Real Life" (MeIRL) posts belong in /r/Me_IRL.
- Rage comics belong in /r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu.
- Demotivationals belong in /r/demotivational.
- eCards belong in /r/eCards.
Memes of any sort are not allowed in posts to /r/Funny, but are allowed in comments.
Rule 3: No reposts.
If a given piece of content has appeared on /r/Funny before, do not post it.
Serial reposters will be banned.
Sites like KarmaDecay and TinEye can help to determine the uniqueness of a given submission, but since neither site is 100% accurate, original content is strongly preferred.
What is "original content?"
Original content – sometimes referred to by the initialism "OC" – is any submission consisting of (or predominantly featuring) elements which were created by the person posting it.
Examples of original content include the following:
- A song with an original melody, lyrics, and accompaniment
- A photograph of a unique subject, taken by its submitting user
- A video that was written, filmed, and produced by its submitter
- A comic strip that was written and drawn by the person who submits it
A creative assemblage of previously existing media may also be considered original content, provided that the primary focus is the poster’s own creation and that the end result is wholly unique. For instance, this parody tabloid was assembled from stock images, but the end result is the creator's own original content.
What isn't "original content?"
Anything which primarily features or focuses on existing, unaltered media is not original content, regardless of format.
Examples of unoriginal content include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Memetic image macros
- Screenshots of news articles
- Footage with added soundtracks
- GIFs taken from preexisting videos
- Pictures of subjects which have been photographed and submitted before
- Media from the Internet which has been edited to include digital elements
Falsely claiming originality or ownership is grounds for an immediate and permanent ban from the subreddit.
Rule 4: No personal information, hate-speech, or harassment.
All submissions must abide by Reddit's site-wide content policy.
Harassment, bigotry, doxxing, and impersonation are all grounds for immediate and permanent bans, as is the submission of illegal content.
Personal information (including but not limited to full names, telephone numbers, and email addresses) may not be offered in posts or comments.
As the minimum age for Reddit access is 13 years old, submissions from underage users will be removed.
Rule 5: No politics or political figures.
Anything which involves, references, or includes politics or a political figure – even if they are not the focus – may not be posted here.
Examples include (but are not limited to) the following:
- An image or video including a current or former political figure
- A reference to a politics-centric or politically charged event
- An incidental mention of a political process in unrelated piece of media
Please note that a given post does not need to take a specific political stance in order to be considered political.
Any inclusion of anything related to politics (regardless of context) is against the rules.
Try /r/politicalhumor instead.
Rule 6: No forbidden titles, no titles or posts involving Cake Days or upvotes, and no memetic titles.
Posts in /r/Funny may not include any of the following:
- Excessive or disruptive emojis
- Memetic phrases, references, or other terminology
- Requests (in any form) for upvotes, awards, karma, or visibility
- References to removals, bans, post-placements, or Reddit-based interactions
- Mentions of Reddit milestones, Reddit-based awards, other users, or other communities
Posts with irrelevant or low-effort titles (as with "lol" or "haha") are not allowed.
Posts with titles that circumvent or go against any other listed rules are similarly disallowed.
Examples of forbidden titles include (but are not limited to) the following:
- "Oof"
- "SMH"
- "True"
- "POV:"
- "100 IQ"
- "Hmmm"
- "Big brain"
- "Every time"
- "Title goes here"
- "Right in the feels"
- "No caption needed"
- "This was removed from X"
- "I was told to post this here"
- "When you..." (HIFW, MRW, TRW, etc.)
Rule 7: No gore, pornography, or animal cruelty.
Explicit nudity, pornography, and other such content is not allowed. Use /r/nsfwfunny for such content
Realistic depictions of death, dismemberment, and grievous injury are also forbidden.
Examples of animal cruelty (including overt cruelty, primate pets, or restrained wildlife) are not allowed.
All other non-work-safe content must be tagged as such. As always, any removal is at moderator discretion.
Rule 8: No unoriginal comics.
Comics may only be posted on Wednesdays and Sundays (measured using Pacific Time), and only by their original artists. This is to ensure that creators receive the credit and recognition that they deserve.
All comics submitted to /r/Funny must be hosted either on Reddit's native servers or on Imgur.
Artists may offer one self-promotional comment per post.
Rule 9: No pictures of just text.
Image-based submissions in which the humor can be conveyed via text alone are not allowed. This includes pictures of text with images that don't add necessary context, transcriptions of standup comedy (as with /r/standupshots), and screenshots of jokes. Here are some examples. Text posts using Reddit's native system are allowed.
Rule 10: No social-media, electronic messaging, or AI-generated content.
Social media content of any kind, regardless of ownership or visible information, is not allowed. This applies to content and screenshots taken from any social media sites on the Internet, including but not limited to the following:
- Tinder
- TikTok
- Tumblr
- YouTube
- OkCupid
Content accompanied by text from these platforms is similarly forbidden, even if all other details have been removed.
Screenshots of text messages, Internet chats (as with Discord, Slack, Zoom, Omegle, or ChatRoulette), and instant messaging conversations are also not allowed.
Images with added Snapchat text are allowed, provided that no UI elements or usernames are visible.
Links to YouTube videos are allowed, but are governed by Reddit's policies on self-promotion and spam.
Any and all AI-generated content is forbidden, regardless of its format.
Miscellaneous
- New accounts will be automatically filtered. Accounts must be 6 weeks old to contribute to this subreddit.
- Bots and bot-like accounts are not allowed.
- No link-shorteners (or HugeURL) in either post links or comments.
- All submissions to /r/Funny are governed by Reddit's policies on self-promotion and spam.
Last revised by Kylde