03 · How Reddit ranks posts and comments, in plain words¶
Reddit doesn't publish its current ranking. What's public: the historical "hot" formula in Reddit's archived open-source code, its rules and help pages. Raw notes and sources: reference/reddit-facts.md. Labels: Code (Reddit's archived open-source code, may have changed), Help (Reddit's rules or help pages), Practice (what builders see, test it yourself).
Posts¶
| What | Label | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Hot" mixes votes and age. Votes count on a log scale: the first 10 upvotes weigh as much as the next 90 | Code | The first hour decides most of a post's life. Post when the subreddit is awake, and be there to answer |
| Age keeps pushing old posts down on a fixed clock | Code | A post has about a day in "hot". Don't delete and repost to "try again": that's spam |
| Each subreddit's AutoModerator removes posts by rules you can't see (account age, karma, links, keywords) | Practice | Read the rules and pinned posts first; check your post logged out after 10 minutes |
| Many subreddits require karma in that subreddit before you post | Help + subreddit rules | Comment there for 1–2 weeks first (01-strategy.md) |
| Flair and title format are often required | subreddit rules | Use the exact tag; wrong flair = removal |
| Upvote ratio and early comments signal a good post | Practice | End with a real question; answer every comment in the first hour |
Comments¶
- Code · Comments are sorted by votes and age too ("best" / "top" / "new"). Early, useful comments rise to the top and stay there; a great answer 10 hours late is seen by few.
- Practice · Answer threads that are less than a few hours old and still getting views (sort a subreddit by new or rising), or old threads that rank in Google for a question you can answer: those keep getting readers.
- Practice · The top answer is usually the most specific one: steps, a number, a comparison, a screenshot.
Karma¶
- Help / Practice · Karma is built from votes on your posts and comments, but Reddit doesn't publish the exact formula, and it isn't one point per upvote (reference).
- Practice · What matters is karma in the subreddit where you want to post, and account age. Total karma from joke comments elsewhere doesn't help you get past r/macapps' minimum.
Things to stop believing¶
- "Post at 9am EST and you'll hit the front page." Each subreddit has its own busy hours; look at when its new queue moves.
- "Upvote your own post from another account." Vote manipulation: Rule 2, suspension.
- "Shadowbans are gone." Reddit replaced sitewide shadowbans with suspensions in 2015, but spam filters and subreddit AutoModerator can still hide what you post without telling you (08-rules-and-risks.md).