Reddit is one of the most popular social networks in the world. It is a huge forum with a bunch of subforums called subreddits. Each subreddit is a closed ecosystem with its system of rules, established practices, and most importantly, an audience and moderators!
The subreddit you want is r/Gaming. It's the largest gaming community where you'll 100% find your players. However, you can't just jump in and get there. If you now post about the game in a new account, it will be immediately deleted.
What to do to successfully post on Reddit?
The first thing to remember is the karma system. Each comment or post can be rated up or down. The more positive ratings (called "upvotes" here) you get, the more roads will open up in front of you!
You need a minimum of 150 karma points to get started on the platform = to be eligible to write in the most popular subreddits.
To publish on r/Gaming you need at least 5000 karma. I can't give exact figures because:
- They often change
- They are not spelled out anywhere and moderators are in no hurry to share information.
In general, you should be prepared that moderators of large communities are often not ready for a detailed dialogue, because they have to communicate with hundreds of users every day.
Write what you're passionate about and what you can help other users with. Be sure there's a subreddit for everything you're interested in - just look at the community of parkour dog handlers who perform stunts with their pets. You didn't know, and it exists - r/barkour.
You can get content just by swiping your photos on your phone or the "like" tab on social media. You took a picture of food - post it. You took a picture of a beautiful sunset, post it! Taking a picture of your kitty - well, you get the idea.
You'll need at least 15 posts on any subject EXCEPT YOUR GAME - this is important!
I'm sure you've already wondered: where is the easiest place to get the right amount of karma and posts? Most subreddits automatically ban posts from new users, but there are exceptions. Here's a quick list of the most accessible subreddits:
- r/FreeKarma4U
- r/AskReddit
- r/Delightfullychubby
Most likely, at first, you will have to find and comment on other users' posts, thereby gaining your first karma. Look for fresh, but gaining popularity posts in large subreddits. Be polite, answer questions before anyone else, and ask them yourself - people like to be asked their opinions.
Once you get 150+ karma, most other subreddits will also let you write posts. Here's a small list of useful communities at this stage:
-
r/gamingmemes
-
r/USA
-
r/Food
-
r/FoodPorn
-
r/Breakfast
-
r/aww
-
r/cats
Also, you can add to this list subreddits about your favorite games.
The account creation date should be 30+ days before you post about your game on r/Gaming. In general, the rule of thumb is: the older and more "pumped up" your account is, the less likely you are to get picked on.
Most important: the number of posts about your game may not exceed 10% of all posts on your account. This applies to any posts that the moderators of the subreddit may think are related to your game. Even deleted posts are taken into account - the moderator's eye sees everything!
Once you've done all of the above, you'll need to choose a gif and post a title for r/Gaming:
- The smaller the weight of the gif, the better - try to fit in 8MB or less.
- The faster the player understands what he or she needs to do in the game, the better.
- The more understandable and sticky movement on the gif, the better.
- Don't use the name of the game in the title.
It is advisable to tell a personal story in the title of the post, rather than burdening users with promotional slogans. Examples of successful captions are below.
By the way, never quarrel with moderators! Sometimes you may think they're being unfair, but it's their site and their rules. You have to respect that. If your post has been deleted, ask as politely as possible what the reason is and consider it in future posts. You probably won't get published the first time without a problem. Some advice:
- Don't use extra accounts, pretending to be regular users in the comments to artificially increase activity and likes under the post. Just don't do it that way.
- Once you've done and accounted for all of the above, you can safely make a post on r/Gaming. If the publication was not deleted automatically and still within 30 minutes after - then it is unlikely to be taken down.
If you already have a community of players - send them a link to the post. Every like and comment immediately after publication is worth its weight in gold. However, be prepared that in the first 3-5 hours the post may not grow quickly. There works the principle of a snowball, which slowly picks up its weight, but after crossing a critical point - it flies by itself and knocks down everything that gets in its way. Figuratively speaking, of course.
If you do it right, within the first couple of hours your post will be up in the Rising section.
Answer all questions and keep the user dialogues going under your post! No one should go unanswered:
-
If there are questions - answer and ask counter questions.
-
If a person writes that they like the game - give a link to Steam or a social network (but don't abuse it - moderators don't like links).
-
If you didn't like the game - find out exactly what you didn't like and thank them for their feedback.
If you have a successful post on your hands, be prepared that you'll have to sit up at night to have time to respond to everything and hang in the subreddit top for as long as possible.
Through inattention, Beast Hour twice failed to pass the r/Gaming check and their posts were taken down in a matter of minutes. Nevertheless, when all the conditions were finally met, Beast Hour got a successful post that brought them more wishlists in one day than they had received in weeks before.
That said, Beast Hour was lucky. Their first moderated gif gathered not 20-50 upvotes, but hundreds of times that number. However, be prepared for success to take time. But it will come!