Reference

Glossary

Plain-language, sourced definitions of the Reddit-specific and platform-governance terms used throughout this archive. Search or filter by category.

66 terms

Admin (Reddit Admin): A Reddit admin is a paid employee of Reddit, Inc. who is responsible for the platform as a whole, as distinct from volunteer moderators who manage individual communities. Admins enforce Reddit's sitewide rules and have powers that moderators lack, including suspending or banning accounts across the entire platform and removing content sitewide. They handle platform-level policy, safety, and operations rather than the day-to-day moderation of single subreddits.
AMA (Ask Me Anything): AMA stands for "Ask Me Anything," an interactive question-and-answer format popularized by Reddit's r/IAmA subreddit, where a host invites the community to ask them questions. The host typically verifies their identity and answers questions through the site's comment system, with the most upvoted questions rising to prominence. The format has been compared to an online press conference and has featured guests ranging from celebrities and politicians to ordinary people.
AMAgeddon: AMAgeddon was a July 2015 protest in which moderators set more than 1,000 subreddits — including major communities like r/AskReddit, r/IAmA, r/science, and r/funny — to private, briefly blacking out much of Reddit. It was triggered by the sudden firing of Victoria Taylor (u/chooter), Reddit's director of talent who coordinated AMA interviews and was a key liaison between volunteer moderators and the company. The backlash, combined with broader frustration over management, contributed to interim CEO Ellen Pao's resignation on July 10, 2015.
Anti-Evil Operations: Anti-Evil Operations (often abbreviated AEO) is Reddit's internal team of paid administrators responsible for enforcing the sitewide Content Policy. Unlike volunteer subreddit moderators, AEO acts across the entire platform, reviewing reported content and removing material that violates rules on harassment, hate speech, doxxing, and violent extremism, regardless of a subreddit's own rules. Its removals are admin-level actions that can carry account-level consequences such as suspensions.
API (Reddit API): An API (application programming interface) is a set of rules and protocols that lets software applications communicate and exchange data with one another. The Reddit API is the interface Reddit exposes so that external programs — such as third-party apps, bots, and research tools — can read and post content programmatically. It was free to use from 2008 until 2023, when Reddit introduced usage-based pricing for high-volume commercial access.
Astroturfing: Astroturfing is the deceptive practice of hiding the true sponsors of a message or campaign so that it appears to be a spontaneous, independent grassroots movement. The name plays on "AstroTurf," a brand of artificial grass, contrasting fake support with genuine grassroots activism. Online, astroturfing commonly relies on sockpuppet accounts, coordinated posts, fake reviews, and persona-management software to manufacture the appearance of public support.
AutoModerator: AutoModerator is a built-in, customizable Reddit bot that lets moderators write rules to automate routine moderation tasks such as filtering spam, removing or flagging posts, and enforcing community guidelines. Originally created by Reddit user Deimorz as a third-party tool to compensate for an unreliable spam filter, it was later adopted by Reddit and is now available to every subreddit by default. Rules are configured in a subreddit wiki page and require no programming experience for basic use.
Ban Evasion: Ban evasion is the act of circumventing a ban or suspension, typically by creating or using an alternate account to continue participating after being removed. On Reddit it also covers using VPNs to mask one's IP, asking others to post on one's behalf, or recreating a banned community to serve the same purpose. Reddit prohibits ban evasion under its Content Policy, and detection can result in further account suspensions.
Bot: A Reddit bot is an automated account that performs tasks on the platform via the Reddit API, such as moderating content, summarizing articles, setting reminders, or posting automated replies. Well-known examples include AutoModerator (Reddit's built-in moderation tool) and RemindMeBot. Reddit's rules prohibit bots used for vote manipulation, spam, or impersonation, and the API enforces rate limits on automated activity.
Brigading: Brigading is a coordinated action in which a group of users bands together to target a post, community, or individual, typically through mass downvoting, harassment, or disruptive commenting. The term originated on Reddit to describe coordinated attacks by members of an antagonistic subreddit and has since spread to other platforms. Reddit's rules prohibit brigading as a form of interference and content manipulation.
Cakeday: A cakeday is the yearly anniversary of the day a user created their Reddit account. It is marked by a small cake icon that appears next to the user's username for 24 hours on that date. Other Redditors often acknowledge the occasion, sometimes by being more generous with upvotes.
Coins and Awards: Coins and Awards were a Reddit virtual-currency and recognition system in which users bought Coins and spent them to give Awards (such as Gold or Silver) to posts and comments they wanted to highlight. In July 2023 Reddit announced it was discontinuing the system, citing clutter and complexity from more than 50 award types; purchases stopped immediately and remaining coins and awards could be used only until September 12, 2023. Reddit later replaced it with a simpler contributor-rewards system reusing the "Gold" branding.
Copypasta: Copypasta is a block of text that is repeatedly copied and pasted across internet forums and social media, often as a meme. The term is a portmanteau of "copy," "paste," and "pasta," and its usage traces back to an anonymous 4chan thread around 2006. Copypastas frequently take the form of humorous rants, fictional stories, or provocative messages posted to elicit reactions.
Crosspost: A crosspost is a feature that lets a user share an existing post from one subreddit into another community as a new submission linking back to the original. The crosspost displays a preview of the original post along with its author, source community, and score, helping readers find the original source. Not all communities permit crossposted content, in which case the option to post there is disabled.
CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material): Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (a person under 18). Under U.S. federal law it covers photographs, videos, computer-generated images, and digitally altered or AI-generated content that depicts an identifiable minor. Organizations such as NCMEC use the term "CSAM" rather than "child pornography" to emphasize that the material documents actual abuse and that minors cannot consent. Producing, distributing, or possessing CSAM is a serious federal felony.
Dead Internet Theory: The dead internet theory is the claim that the internet now consists primarily of bot activity and automated, algorithmically curated content rather than genuine human interaction. It originated as a conspiracy theory alleging a coordinated effort by state actors to manipulate the population, but the term is now also used more loosely to describe the proliferation of bots and generative-AI content online. It is widely regarded as a conspiracy theory, though some of its underlying observations about automation are taken seriously by commentators.
Deepfake: A deepfake is synthetic media — images, video, or audio — generated or manipulated using artificial intelligence to depict people saying or doing things that did not actually occur. The term combines "deep learning" and "fake," and the technique commonly relies on neural networks such as generative adversarial networks (GANs) and autoencoders. Deepfakes have legitimate uses but raise serious concerns around non-consensual pornography, fraud, defamation, and political disinformation.
Default Subreddits: Default subreddits were a curated set of around 50 high-traffic communities that Reddit automatically showed to logged-out visitors and new users, populating the site's default front page. In 2017 Reddit replaced this model for unregistered visitors with r/popular, a front page drawn from a broader range of communities that excludes NSFW content and subreddits that opt out. The change ended the formal "default subreddit" designation.
Deplatforming: Deplatforming (also called no-platforming) is the removal of an individual or group from a platform used to share their information or ideas, typically by suspending, banning, or closing their accounts on social media or other online services. It is commonly applied in response to hate speech, harassment, terrorist content, or disinformation. Deplatforming may be temporary or permanent, and its effectiveness is debated, as research suggests it can reduce harmful activity on one platform while displacing it to others.
Downvote: A downvote is the action of clicking the down arrow on a Reddit post or comment to indicate that the content should be less visible or that it does not contribute positively to the community. Downvotes subtract from an item's net score, pushing heavily downvoted content lower in feeds and comment threads where it can become "buried." Like all Reddit voting, downvotes are anonymous to the content's author.
Downvote Brigade: A downvote brigade is a specific form of brigading in which a group of users coordinates to mass-downvote a particular post, comment, or user, pushing the targeted content down in rankings or out of visibility. It is the original behavior the term "brigading" described on Reddit, where downvotes suppress content in feeds. Reddit treats organized downvote brigading as prohibited vote manipulation and interference.
Doxxing: Doxxing (also spelled doxing) is the act of publicly revealing or publishing personally identifiable information about an individual or organization — such as a home address, phone number, workplace, or real identity behind a pseudonym — usually online and without consent. It is often done to harass, intimidate, or enable further harm to the target. The term derives from "dropping docs" in 1990s hacker culture, and doxxing can be a precursor to threats, stalking, or swatting.
Finfluencer: A finfluencer (a blend of "financial" and "influencer") is a social-media content creator who shares information and advice about money, investing, budgeting, and related topics. They typically post short, accessible videos or posts on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Reddit, earning income through advertising, sponsorships, affiliate deals, and product sales. Because most finfluencers are not licensed financial advisors and operate with little regulatory oversight, their recommendations can carry conflicts of interest and are widely flagged as no substitute for professional advice.
Flair: Flair on Reddit is a small label or tag displayed next to a post or a username to convey structured, at-a-glance information within a community. Post flair categorizes content by type or topic, while user flair is a short label users (or moderators) can set beside a username in a given subreddit. Flair is subreddit-scoped, meaning a user's flair in one community does not carry over to another.
FOSTA/SESTA: FOSTA-SESTA refers to a pair of 2018 U.S. laws — the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) — signed into law on April 11, 2018. The legislation amended Section 230 to remove platform immunity in cases involving the facilitation of sex trafficking or prostitution, allowing platforms to face civil and criminal liability. Supporters framed it as an anti-trafficking measure, while critics argue it has had unintended consequences for online speech and the safety of sex workers.
GameStop Short Squeeze: The GameStop short squeeze was a January 2021 event in which retail investors, coordinating largely on Reddit's r/wallstreetbets, drove a dramatic rise in the share price of video-game retailer GameStop (GME). Because roughly 140% of the stock's public float had been sold short, rising prices forced short sellers to buy back shares to cover their positions, fueling a self-reinforcing price spike that briefly pushed the stock above $500 from about $17 at the month's start. The episode caused major losses for several hedge funds, prompted brokerages such as Robinhood to restrict buying, and led to congressional hearings.
Karma: Karma is a Reddit user's reputation score, reflecting the net upvotes and downvotes their posts and comments have received over time. It is divided into post (link) karma and comment karma, and does not have a strict one-to-one relationship with vote counts. Karma cannot be exchanged for anything, but some subreddits require a minimum karma threshold before a user can post or comment.
Karma Farming: Karma farming is the Reddit practice of posting reposts, low-effort, or attention-grabbing content primarily to accumulate karma rather than to contribute meaningfully. Because karma signals community standing but carries no intrinsic monetary value, farmed accounts are often built up to appear established before being sold, repurposed for spam, or used to evade restrictions. The practice is generally frowned upon by communities and can lead to bans.
Lurker: A lurker is a member of an online community or forum who reads and observes discussions but rarely or never posts or contributes. The term came into internet use in the mid-1980s with bulletin board systems. Lurking is viewed both negatively (as free-riding) and positively, as it allows newcomers to learn a community's norms before participating.
Megathread: A megathread is a single discussion thread that consolidates many posts or conversations about one topic into a central location, reducing fragmentation across separate threads. They are commonly used for live events, breaking news, gaming announcements, or recurring topics, and are typically pinned (stickied) to the top of a subreddit for visibility. Moderators often direct users to contribute to the megathread rather than creating separate posts.
Meme Stock: A meme stock is a publicly traded company whose share price is driven largely by social-media-fueled hype and coordinated retail-investor attention rather than by underlying business fundamentals. The phenomenon was popularized in January 2021 when users of Reddit's r/WallStreetBets drove a dramatic short squeeze in GameStop (GME) shares. Meme stocks are typically highly volatile, with prices amplified by feedback loops such as short squeezes.
Moderator (Subreddit Mod): A Reddit moderator is an unpaid volunteer who manages a specific subreddit (community) rather than the platform as a whole. Mods set and enforce community rules, remove off-topic or rule-breaking posts and comments, ban users from their community, and respond to modmail. Their authority is limited to the subreddits they moderate, and unlike admins they cannot delete content sitewide or ban users from Reddit entirely.
Moderator Toolbox: Moderator Toolbox (also called Toolbox or r/toolbox) is a community-developed browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that adds moderation features to Reddit's interface. Its tools include user notes shared across a mod team, modmail filtering, a one-click mod button for actions like banning and approving, and modlog analysis. The project was archived as read-only in 2026 and is no longer actively maintained.
NCII (Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery): Non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) is the creation, distribution, or threatened distribution of sexually explicit or intimate images or videos of a person without their consent. It is sometimes called "revenge porn," though advocates prefer NCII because it focuses on the abusive act rather than implying retaliation, and because motives vary. NCII can involve genuine private images shared without permission as well as fabricated or AI-generated content such as deepfakes.
NCMEC: The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that serves as the national clearinghouse on issues of missing and exploited children. It operates the CyberTipline, the nation's centralized reporting system for suspected online child exploitation, to which the public and electronic service providers can submit reports. U.S. law requires online platforms that become aware of apparent child sexual abuse material to report it to NCMEC's CyberTipline, which reviews reports and refers them to law enforcement.
NSFW Tag: NSFW stands for "Not Safe For Work," a tag applied to Reddit posts or entire subreddits that contain adult-themed material such as nudity, profanity, or sexually suggestive content. Reddit requires such content to be marked, and the tag blurs images and text for users who have safe browsing enabled, letting them choose whether to view it. The tag can be applied by the original poster or by subreddit moderators.
OP (Original Poster): OP is an abbreviation for "original poster," referring to the person who started a particular discussion thread on a forum or social platform. It is used by others in the thread to refer to that person, especially in anonymous or pseudonymous communities where it is faster than citing a username. The term dates back to early online message boards, with documented usage from the early 2000s.
Power Mod (Power Moderator): A "power mod" is an informal term for a Reddit user who moderates a large number of communities, sometimes including many of the platform's biggest subreddits. The concept became a focus of controversy after analyses highlighted how a small number of moderators collectively control a large share of Reddit's top communities, raising concerns about concentration of influence over what millions of users see. The term is community slang rather than an official Reddit designation.
Pump and Dump: Pump and dump is a form of securities fraud in which perpetrators artificially inflate the price of a stock they own by spreading false or misleading positive statements ("pump"), then sell their shares at the inflated price ("dump"). After they sell and stop promoting the stock, its price typically collapses, leaving other investors with losses. Microcap and penny stocks are common targets because limited public information makes them easier to manipulate, and the schemes increasingly spread through email, social media, and online forums.
Pushshift: Pushshift is a social-media data collection, archiving, and analysis platform that, beginning in 2015, continuously copied Reddit comments and submissions and made the dataset available to researchers and developers via an API and bulk dumps. It enabled large-scale searching, aggregation, and historical analysis of Reddit content that the official API did not easily support. Reddit cut off Pushshift's access to most users during the 2023 API changes, restricting it to vetted moderators and researchers.
Quarantine: Quarantine is a state Reddit administrators apply to subreddits that, while not banned, contain content many users may find highly offensive or that warrants extra scrutiny. Quarantined communities display an interstitial warning requiring users to explicitly opt in, are excluded from search, recommendations, and non-subscription feeds such as r/popular, and generate no ad revenue. Introduced in 2015, the feature lets moderators appeal for reinstatement by demonstrating sustained reform.
Raid: A raid is an organized intrusion by members of one online community into another, often to disrupt it through coordinated posting, harassment, or brigading. On Reddit, raids are frequently triggered by cross-links where one subreddit links to another's content and mobilizes its members against it. Stanford research found that just 1% of subreddits were responsible for roughly 74% of such intergroup conflicts.
RDDT / IPO: Reddit, Inc. held its initial public offering (IPO) in March 2024, listing its Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "RDDT." The shares were priced at $34.00 each — the top of the expected range — and began trading on March 21, 2024, closing the first day up nearly 48% at $50.31. It was one of the most closely watched tech IPOs of 2024 and notably let some Reddit power users buy shares at the IPO price.
Reddit Content Policy: The Reddit Content Policy is the platform's set of sitewide rules governing acceptable content and behavior across all communities, enforced by Reddit administrators regardless of individual subreddit rules. It prohibits harassment, hate speech, violence, doxxing, non-consensual intimate imagery, content sexualizing minors, and content manipulation such as spam, vote manipulation, and ban evasion. Subreddit moderators may set additional rules, but all communities must operate within these baseline policies, which Reddit has revised several times in response to controversies.
Reddit Premium / Gold: Reddit Premium (formerly known as Reddit Gold) is a paid subscription that removes advertisements and unlocks extra features such as access to the members-only subreddit r/lounge, a special profile badge, comment highlighting, and a monthly allotment of coins historically used to award content. It is priced at roughly $5.99 per month or $49.99 per year. The "Gold" name has been reused over time, including for Reddit's revamped awarding system after the original coins system was retired.
Repost: A repost is content that is shared again after having already been posted, either by re-uploading it or by using a platform's built-in resharing feature. On Reddit and other forums, the term commonly refers to content (such as a meme, image, or link) that has previously appeared and is posted again, sometimes drawing criticism when unoriginal. The accepted etiquette across platforms is to credit the original creator when resharing their work.
RES (Reddit Enhancement Suite): Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) is a free, open-source, community-driven browser extension that adds features to the Reddit browsing experience, such as inline image viewing, keyboard navigation, an infinite-scroll "Never Ending Reddit," and a customizable dashboard. It is unofficial and not made by Reddit, and is available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and other browsers, with more than one million users. RES is designed for "old" Reddit and most of its features do not work on the newer Reddit redesign.
r/wallstreetbets: r/wallstreetbets (also called WallStreetBets or WSB) is a Reddit community where users discuss high-risk stock and options trading in an irreverent, meme-heavy style, founded in 2012 by Jaime Rogozinski. It is known for distinctive slang such as "stonks," "tendies," "diamond hands," and "YOLO," and for members posting about extreme gains and losses. The subreddit rose to global prominence in early 2021 as a driving force behind the GameStop short squeeze, and has since grown into one of the largest finance communities on Reddit.
Section 230: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. § 230) is a U.S. federal law providing that no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of information provided by another content provider. In practice it gives online platforms broad immunity from liability for user-generated content while also protecting their right to moderate or remove content. It has statutory exceptions, including federal criminal law, intellectual property claims, and (since 2018) sex-trafficking law under FOSTA-SESTA.
Shadowban: A shadowban (also called stealth banning, ghost banning, or hellbanning) is the practice of blocking or hiding a user's content from a community without notifying them, so the user keeps posting unaware that others cannot see their contributions. Reddit historically used sitewide shadowbans to combat spam accounts, but in 2015 introduced a visible account-suspension feature said to replace them for human users. Subreddit moderators can still effectively shadowban users within their own communities via AutoModerator rules or manual filtering.
Sitewide Ban / Account Suspension: A sitewide ban or account suspension is a platform-level enforcement action by Reddit that restricts or removes a user's access across the entire site, unlike a subreddit ban which only affects a single community. Suspensions can be temporary (for a fixed period such as 3, 7, or 30 days) or permanent, and while suspended a user typically cannot post, comment, vote, or send messages. Reddit imposes these actions for violations of its sitewide rules, including spam, vote manipulation, ban evasion, harassment, or prohibited content.
Snoo: Snoo is the official mascot of Reddit, a genderless alien depicted with a large oval head, orange-red eyes, and a crooked antenna. It was created by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and has represented the site since its launch in 2005, with the name derived from "Snew," an early proposed name for the site. The antenna symbolizes a space and time traveler, and many subreddits use customized renditions of Snoo as their logos.
Sockpuppet: A sockpuppet (or sock puppet account) is a false online identity created and used for deceptive purposes, typically to praise, defend, or promote a person or viewpoint, manipulate opinion, or evade restrictions such as a ban. A single operator may run many sockpuppets to create a false impression of consensus or majority support. Sockpuppets are central to tactics like astroturfing, vote manipulation, and harassment, and are prohibited on many platforms.
Subreddit: A subreddit is a topic-specific community within Reddit, created and moderated by users, functioning like a niche forum dedicated to a particular subject such as technology, gaming, or news. Each subreddit has its own rules, set and enforced by volunteer moderators, and is denoted by the "r/" prefix (e.g., r/science). Users can join any number of subreddits, which then appear in their home feed.
Swatting: Swatting is a form of criminal harassment in which a person makes a false report of a serious emergency — such as a hostage situation, bomb threat, or active shooter — to deceive law enforcement into sending an armed police response to a victim's address. Perpetrators often use caller ID spoofing and information obtained through doxxing to conceal their identity and locate the target. Swatting endangers lives, wastes emergency resources, and has resulted in deaths; it is prosecuted as a crime under federal and state law in the U.S.
Take It Down Act: The TAKE IT DOWN Act is a U.S. federal law signed by President Donald Trump on May 19, 2025, that addresses non-consensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfake imagery. It criminalizes knowingly publishing or threatening to publish such imagery via an interactive computer service, and it requires covered platforms to establish a notice-and-takedown process and remove reported imagery (and identical copies) within 48 hours. The takedown requirement is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, with platforms given until May 19, 2026, to comply.
The API Blackout: The API blackout was a coordinated protest in June 2023 in which thousands of subreddits went private or read-only to oppose Reddit's new, usage-based API pricing. Beginning June 12, 2023, more than 8,000 communities — including major ones like r/funny, r/science, and r/gaming — participated in what was planned as a 48-hour blackout, though many extended it indefinitely. The protest centered on concerns that the pricing would kill third-party apps and harm volunteer moderators and accessibility tools.
The Front Page / r/all: On Reddit, "the front page" refers to a feed of top-ranked posts, while r/all is a feed that aggregates popular posts from across nearly all public subreddits. Ranking is determined by an algorithm factoring in a submission's age, its ratio of upvotes to downvotes, and total vote count. The term "front page" can refer to different feeds depending on context, including a logged-in user's personalized home feed.
The Great Ban: "The Great Ban" is the name researchers use for Reddit's mass deplatforming of around 2,000 subreddits on June 29, 2020, for persistent violations of its hate-speech and harassment policies. Prominent communities removed included r/The_Donald and r/ChapoTrapHouse. It is distinct from the earlier June 10, 2015 banning of r/FatPeopleHate and four other subreddits under interim CEO Ellen Pao, which is sometimes conflated with it.
Third-Party Apps: Third-party apps are unofficial Reddit client applications — such as Apollo, Reddit is Fun (RIF), Sync, and ReddPlanet — built by independent developers using the Reddit API rather than by Reddit itself. They offered alternative interfaces, accessibility features, and moderation tools that many users and moderators preferred over Reddit's official app. Most of the major ones shut down by June 30, 2023, after Reddit's new API pricing made them financially unviable; Apollo's developer estimated the fees would cost around $20 million per year.
Troll: An internet troll is a person who deliberately antagonizes others online by posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content. The internet usage emerged in the late 1980s, drawing on the folklore creature, to describe those who intentionally disrupt online communities. Trolling behavior is generally aimed at provoking negative reactions, derailing discussions, or sparking arguments.
User Agreement / Terms of Service: Reddit's User Agreement (its Terms of Service) is the legally binding contract between Reddit, Inc. and anyone who accesses or uses Reddit's websites, apps, APIs, and related services. By using the platform, users agree to its terms, which set out rights and responsibilities, eligibility requirements (for example, no one under 13 may use the services), and conditions of use, and which work alongside Reddit's Content Policy and Privacy Policy. The agreement is periodically updated, and Reddit publishes transparency reports describing how it enforces these terms.
Verified Account / Verified User: A verified account on Reddit is a profile that Reddit has confirmed in some way, used to reduce impersonation and help users identify legitimate accounts. In one form, organizational profiles (such as major news outlets or brands) display an "Official" label as a visual indicator that does not grant extra platform privileges. In another form, profile verification confirms a user's identity and age details, which can affect access to certain communities or content but does not boost karma or post visibility.
Vote Manipulation: Vote manipulation is the artificial inflation or deflation of votes on Reddit posts and comments to distort their visibility, ranking, or perceived popularity. It includes coordinated mass up- or down-voting, using multiple or fake accounts, and soliciting others to vote on specific content. Reddit's Content Policy explicitly prohibits vote manipulation as a form of content manipulation that undermines the platform's organic ranking system.
Voting (Upvote/Downvote): Voting is Reddit's core mechanism for ranking content, using upvote (up arrow) and downvote (down arrow) buttons on posts and comments. Upvotes signal that content positively contributes to a community, while downvotes signal the opposite, and the net score (upvotes minus downvotes) determines a post's visibility and ranking. Votes are anonymous, and Reddit applies "vote fuzzing" — slightly obscuring true counts — to deter manipulation by bots.
Witch Hunt: In a Reddit moderation context, a witch hunt is a coordinated campaign to identify, publicly expose, and harass an individual or group believed to have committed some transgression. It commonly involves posting personal information (doxxing) and calls to action urging others to participate in the harassment. Reddit's Content Policy prohibits this conduct, and subreddits that organize or fail to curb witch hunting can face admin action up to permanent bans.