---
title: "What is Karma? — Social Media Glossary | Postpone"
canonical_url: "https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/karma"
last_updated: "2026-10-08T07:18:25.399Z"
meta:
  description: "Karma is Reddit's point system that tracks how much the community has upvoted your posts and comments over time."
  "og:description": "Karma is Reddit's point system that tracks how much the community has upvoted your posts and comments over time."
  "og:title": "What is Karma? — Social Media Glossary"
  "twitter:description": "Karma is Reddit's point system that tracks how much the community has upvoted your posts and comments over time."
  "twitter:title": "What is Karma? — Social Media Glossary"
---

**Reddit**

# Karma

Karma is Reddit's point system that tracks how much the community has upvoted your posts and comments over time.

[**Reddit **post scheduler](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/reddit-post-scheduler)

Karma is Reddit's reputation score. Every time someone upvotes your post or comment, your karma goes up. Downvotes bring it down. It's Reddit's way of measuring whether the community values your contributions.

## How Karma Works

There are two types: **post karma** (from submissions) and **comment karma** (from replies in threads). They're tracked separately on your profile but combine into a total score.

Karma isn't a 1:1 ratio with votes. Reddit uses a diminishing returns formula — a post with 10,000 upvotes won't give you exactly 10,000 karma. The exact calculation isn't public, but the first few hundred upvotes count more than the last few thousand.

You can't lose more than about 15 karma from a single downvoted comment, regardless of how many downvotes it receives. This prevents pile-on situations from destroying an account's standing.

## Why Karma Matters for Posting

Many subreddits set minimum karma requirements. If your account has less than 100 combined karma, you might be blocked from posting in popular communities. Some subreddits require 500+ comment karma specifically — not just total karma.

Reddit's spam filters also weigh karma heavily. New accounts with zero karma face aggressive auto-moderation. Posts might be silently filtered, requiring manual moderator approval before anyone sees them.

This creates a chicken-and-egg problem for new accounts. You need karma to post in popular subreddits, but you need to post to earn karma. The solution: start in smaller, less restrictive communities. Answer questions. Leave thoughtful comments. Build karma organically before attempting to post in high-traffic subs.

## Karma and Credibility

Redditors check profiles. When someone sees your comment and notices 50,000 karma with a 3-year-old account, they assume you're a real person with a track record. A 2-day-old account with 12 karma posting about a product screams spam.

For brand accounts on Reddit, karma is earned through genuine participation — not promotional content. There are no shortcuts.

**Example**

Your account has 12,000 karma — 4,000 from posts and 8,000 from comments. That history lets you post in subreddits like r/entrepreneur that require minimum karma thresholds, and it signals to other Redditors that you're a legitimate contributor.

## **Why It Matters**

Karma is Reddit's trust currency. Many subreddits have minimum karma requirements to post. Low-karma accounts get filtered as spam. Building genuine karma through helpful contributions is the only way to unlock Reddit's full marketing potential.

See how Postpone handles this in our [**Reddit post scheduler**](https://www.postpone.app/platforms/reddit-post-scheduler).

## **Related Terms**

[Contributor Quality Score (CQS)](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/contributor-quality-score) [Flair (Reddit)](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/flair-reddit) [Reddit Gold / Awards](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/reddit-gold-awards) [Subreddit](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/subreddit) [Upvote / Downvote](https://www.postpone.app/social-media-glossary/upvote-downvote)

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