What r/dating_advice requires before you can post

r/dating_advice has account restrictions that prevent new or low-karma accounts from posting or commenting. The subreddit requires a minimum of 500 combined karma across your entire Reddit account before you can make a post there. This is a subreddit-level rule, not a Reddit-wide one — other communities set their own thresholds or have none at all.

The karma requirement exists to reduce spam, trolling, and low-effort content. Moderators use it as a basic filter: if you have spent time building reputation elsewhere on Reddit, you are less likely to be there to cause problems. You can still read and view posts in r/dating_advice with a new account, but you cannot contribute.

Some accounts also face a minimum account age requirement alongside the karma rule. r/dating_advice typically requires accounts to be at least a few days old, though the exact threshold can change. This second barrier catches bot accounts and throwaway accounts created specifically to bypass other rules.

Key Takeaways

  • r/dating_advice requires 500 combined karma before you can post, though you can read posts without any restrictions.
  • Karma comes from upvotes on your posts and comments across all subreddits, not just r/dating_advice.
  • Account age and karma work together — even with enough karma, a brand-new account may not be able to post.
  • If your post is removed for not meeting these requirements, you will see a message from AutoModerator explaining which rule blocked it.
  • These restrictions explore only to r/dating_advice; other subreddits have different rules or no restrictions at all.

How karma accumulates and what counts toward the 500

Karma is the total upvotes minus downvotes you receive on your posts and comments across your entire Reddit account. It is not specific to r/dating_advice — a comment you make in r/news or r/cooking counts the same way. The 500 required is combined karma, meaning post karma and comment karma added together.

In practice, comment karma is easier to build quickly. A single thoughtful comment in a popular thread can earn 50 to 200 upvotes in a few hours. Posts take longer because they compete for attention on a subreddit's front page. If you are starting from zero, spending a week commenting in active subreddits related to your interests is usually faster than trying to post.

Downvotes subtract from your total, but Reddit's system has a floor: your karma cannot go below zero, even if you receive many downvotes. This means a new account with one heavily downvoted post will still show 0 karma, not negative karma.

Why the restriction exists and what it prevents

r/dating_advice is a high-traffic subreddit with over 3 million members. Without barriers, it would be flooded with spam, promotional content, and accounts created solely to harass other users. The 500-karma requirement is a lightweight way to filter out the worst offenders without requiring moderators to manually review every new post.

The rule also discourages throwaway accounts used to post inflammatory or dishonest content. Someone asking for genuine information is usually willing to use their main account or spend a few days building a new one. Someone posting to provoke or deceive often will not.

That said, the restriction is not perfect. It does not prevent bad behavior from established accounts, and it does exclude some people with genuine questions who are new to Reddit. The moderators have chosen to accept that trade-off.

What happens if you try to post without meeting the requirements

If you attempt to post in r/dating_advice without 500 karma, your post will be automatically removed within seconds. You will receive a private message from AutoModerator (Reddit's automated moderation bot) explaining that your post was removed and why. The message will tell you the specific requirement you did not meet — karma, account age, or both.

Your post does not appear on the subreddit at all. Other users cannot see it. You can still see it in your own profile, but it will have a note saying it was removed.

You can repost once you meet the requirements. There is no penalty for attempting to post too early — you straightforward have to wait and try again later.

Building karma if you are starting from scratch

If you have a new account and want to post in r/dating_advice, you need to earn 500 karma first. The fastest way is to comment regularly in active subreddits where you have something genuine to say. Subreddits like r/AskReddit, r/explainlikeimfive, and r/nostupidquestions have high comment volume and reward thoughtful responses with upvotes.

The key is relevance and effort. A one-sentence comment rarely earns upvotes. A comment that answers the question directly, adds context, or makes a connection others did not see will. You do not need to be clever or funny — you need to be useful.

Avoid subreddits where you are likely to be downvoted. Downvotes do not subtract from your total below zero, but they waste time. Stick to communities where your perspective is welcome and where you can contribute something real.

Building 500 karma typically takes one to three weeks of regular commenting, depending on how active you are and how much engagement your comments receive. Some people do it in days; others take longer. There is no way to speed it up artificially — you cannot buy karma or transfer it from another account.

Other subreddit restrictions you might encounter

r/dating_advice is not unusual in having restrictions. Many large subreddits use karma and account age requirements to manage spam and low-quality content. Some common thresholds are 100 karma, 500 karma, or 1,000 karma. A few subreddits have no restrictions at all.

Some subreddits also require you to verify your email address or use a two-factor authentication method before posting. Others have post-specific rules — for example, r/AskReddit does not allow posts asking for personal information, so even with enough karma you cannot post a dating question there.

If you are unsure whether you meet a subreddit's requirements, check the sidebar or "About" section of the community. Most subreddits list their rules clearly. If your post is removed, the AutoModerator message will tell you exactly what you need to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I post in r/dating_advice with a throwaway account if I have enough karma on my main account?

No. Karma is tied to the specific account, not to you as a person. Your throwaway account needs its own 500 karma. Reddit does not recognize that you own multiple accounts or combine their karma.

Does downvoting my own post help me reach 500 karma faster?

No. Downvoting your own post does not affect your karma at all. Only upvotes and downvotes from other users count. Your own votes on your own content do not register.

What if I delete a post or comment after it gets upvotes — do I keep the karma?

Yes. Karma is credited to your account when the upvote happens, not when the post exists. Deleting the post later does not remove the karma you earned from it.

Is there a way to appeal if my post is removed for low karma?

You can message the moderators of r/dating_advice to ask, but they rarely make exceptions. The rule exists to reduce spam, and making exceptions would defeat the purpose. Your best option is to build the required karma and repost later.

Do I need to wait a certain amount of time between posts once I meet the karma requirement?

r/dating_advice does not have a mandatory waiting period between posts. However, Reddit's site-wide rules limit how often you can post in a single subreddit if your posts are being downvoted heavily. If your posts are being received well, you can post multiple times per day.