Frequently Asked Questions

Basics

What is reddit?

Reddit is a source for what's new and popular on the web.
Users like you provide all of the content and decide, through voting, what's good () and what's junk ().
Links that receive community approval bubble up towards #1, so the front page is constantly in motion and (hopefully) filled with fresh, interesting links.

What does the name "Reddit" mean?

It's a play on words - I "read it" on Reddit!

What is that alien / bug thing?

That adorable and informative creature is the mascot for the Reddit community. You can visit redditalien.com for an archive of his past adventures.

Can anyone submit a link?

Yes -- all you need is an account!

How is a submission's score determined?

A submission's score is simply the number of upvotes minus the number of downvotes. If five users like the submission and three users don't it will have a score of 2.

Why does a dot sometimes show up where the score should be?

For the first few hours after a submission is created, the score is not displayed. This is intended to mitigate the bandwagon effect.

What is that number next to usernames? And what is karma?

The number next to a username is called that user's "karma." It reflects how much good the user has done for the Reddit community. The best way to gain karma is to submit links that other people like and vote for.

Why should I try to accumulate karma?

This is a deep and complex question. Wikipedia may provide some guidance.
Note: Reddit makes no guarantees about attaining Nirvana.

What can I do to get my submissions noticed?

Remember that adage about not judging a book by its cover? No one actually follows it. So choose your title carefully -- make it useful, provide context, and be descriptive. Be careful though, if you're too aggressive it could backfire. Phrases like, "Vote this up to spread the word!" or "AMAZING!" tend to annoy most redditors, who will make sure your post doesn't see the light of day.

Is Reddit available in languages other than English?

Yes! In the upper-right corner of the page, there should be a link that says, "English". Click it and you'll get a popup where you can change to another language.

Who made reddit?

In one sense, if you've participated -- you did. In another, more accurate sense, Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian did.

The complete reddit staff list now looks like this:

photo	real name	username	prior life
	Steve	spez	University of Virginia undergrad
	Alexis	kn0thing	University of Virginia undergrad
	Chris	KeyserSosa	PhD from Harvard's Experimental Physics department (and he swears he uses it daily)
	Jeremy	jedberg	Worked for Sendmail and PayPal's anti-fraud department (no, he can't help you find the guy that stole your money)
	David	ketralnis	After single-handedly saving Earth from space-pirates, inventing clean, cheap Cold Fusion, conquering Australia, and winning the World's Most Dashing Man contest in eight countries, finally joined reddit and admitted to doctoring his bio.
	Erik	hueypriest	Once made a movie called "Lance Ito's Battle Axe of Justice"
	Mike	raldi	Fled from Wall Street just before things turned sour (it wasn't his fault)

Voting

Why do the upmods and downmods fluctuate?

Reddit adds or subtracts a small random number of votes from the actual totals in order to thwart spambots and cheaters.

Commenting

Is there a reference guide for the reddit comment syntax?

Yes -- the commenting help page explains all the details, pitfalls, and workarounds.

What does it mean when an asterisk appears next to a comment?

This just means that the commenter has edited it. (On Reddit, you can go back and edit your comments in order to fix mistakes, add new information, or be annoying.)

Moderating

What is a moderator?

A moderator is a Redditor who has special privileges. They can ban or unban submissions, comments and users.

What if I have a question that's not answered here?

The ModHelp reddit is ready and waiting to answer your moderator questions.

Nerd Talk

What is reddit written in?

Python.

Seriously? I heard it was written in Lisp.

It was, but we rewrote it. (Here's why.)

So what Python framework do you use?

Pylons. You can see our source code if you want. The data is stored in a PostgreSQL database and served by a combination of haproxy and nginx.

Anything we didn't cover?

If you have a question that isn't answered here, you can write to us via the feedback page.