Welcome to Reddit!

There are two versions of this resource, both carrying the same information but in different formats:

• Reddit and Karma Explained - Wiki with useful internal hotlinks for website or browser users
• Reddit and Karma Explained - Post-and-Comment format for mobile app users

What is Reddit? Reddit is a world of its own on the internet! Simply put, Reddit is an enormous collection of forums on every subject under the sun where people can share news and other content in “Posts” and make observations and conversation in “Comments” attached to these posts. Established in 2005, we have hundreds and thousands of specialised communities called “Subreddits”, each of which covers a different topic from support groups to world news to pets to academic matters to games, hobbies, music, art, movies and everything in between.

Like every long-established subculture, we have our own expressions and if you are at all confused by some of our jargon, in-jokes, history or memes, we at r/NewToReddit have a fairly comprehensive alphabetical reference guide called Encyclopaedia Redditica to help you work out what we’re talking about. There’s also plenty of fun and offbeat subreddits mentioned in there too for you to discover along the way.

Reddit might take a little time to get used to, but never fear! We’re here at r/NewToReddit specifically to help you navigate your path step by step through our unique ways of ‘doing social media’.

 

…….REDDIT IS HUGE. BUT MANAGEABLE.

There are Subreddits for anything. I would say almost anything but when I think I’ve seen them all, I discover ones like r/birdstakingthetrain and realise I know nothing.

Most communities are friendly and jumping right on in is encouraged. You aren’t likely to get shot down for being a “n00b” but there will generally be one or two things you’ll need to know about each Subreddit (sub) first. Don’t worry, this guide will show you where to find them.

Altercations can happen, but most subs have an active team of mods who will usually shut any trouble down before it becomes vindictive. Just don’t post emojis though. Reddit in general does NOT like emojis. Reddit loves emoticons though :D Why? Don't ASCII me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ More on this later, or here if you simply can’t wait.

 

…….SOME SUBREDDIT BASICS.

Once you enter a Subreddit, you read posts made by others and the comments made therein. If you like the Subreddit, you can “Join” it and it will form part of your personal home page feed. The "Join" button is near the top of the screen as seen here and also in the three-dots “hamburger” post overflow menu on the top RH of the screen on mobile. You can also “Leave” if you want, and the button can be found in the same place as the Join one was.

There’s no limit on the number of times you can join or leave a Subreddit, and nobody except you will ever know when or what Subreddits you have joined or have left. You don’t even have to be joined in a sub to post or comment in it. There are no limits to the number of subreddits you can be joined in but Reddit does have an unspecified number of the ones it filters to your home feed at any one time.

Until you join a few subreddits, your home page feed will be the general r/popular or r/all, which may well feature topics you’re not interested in, so it makes sense to start joining subs you like as soon as possible.

Just underneath the Subreddit title there is a “Sort” menu. On mobile this is a drop-down list. Sorting posts by either “New” or “Rising” will usually give more opportunities for chat and upvotes than you’ll get in older posts, and give other advantages we’ll see soon. You have the same options for sorting your home page feed too.

 

…….LET’S GET STARTED!

Our guide to using Reddit begins with this illustrated primer to joining in on Reddit, followed by some essential details you need to know about Introduction and Rules, Reddit Karma, Participating, Navigation and Safety.

It’s very much worth your while taking a few minutes to read through all the following advice as it contains everything you need from your first steps in getting started to your becoming firmly established here.

Once you’ve had a look through it all, if you have any questions do make a new Post in this Subreddit where you will find plenty of helpful people ready to Comment with the answers you need. r/NewToReddit is focused on giving one-to-one tailored quality advice for helping people new to Reddit Ways. We do not care how old your account is; if you have a query on Redditing, put it here and we will help.

 

…….WHAT’S NEXT?

Let’s get started with an introduction to Reddit and a few notes about rules!