Karma Farming

Karma is Reddit's point system reflecting the net upvotes and downvotes a user receives on their posts and comments. Karma farming is the practice of making posts and comments primarily to accumulate this score as quickly as possible, rather than to genuinely contribute. Common tactics include reposting content that previously performed well, posting in high-traffic subreddits, copying top comments, and using bots or multiple accounts. Reddit's own guidance discourages the mindset, advising users not to set out to accumulate karma but simply to be a good contributor.

On Reddit, karma farming matters because karma and account age are widely used as informal trust signals: many subreddits set minimum karma thresholds to post, and aged, high-karma accounts are valued targets for resale, spam, scams, and astroturfing. As a result, farmed accounts are often "aged" and then sold or repurposed to promote products or push narratives while appearing established. Automated reposting bots and tools like RepostSleuthBot exist to detect recycled content, and Reddit's rules against community disruption prohibit coordinated voting, vote manipulation, and the use of multiple accounts or automation to inflate karma, with violations risking removal, shadowbanning, or suspension.