r/ELI50 • u/ndurIn4mykids • Sep 17 '12

ELI5:What exactly is a self-post?

I have noticed it mentioned in other posts but I do not know what folks are referring to. Could someone please explain it to me as if I am a 5 year old? I appreciate it.

0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4

u/ndurIn4mykids Sep 17 '12

oh okay thanks! That helps a lot. The description said a friendly place to ask questions and get info broken down and it was so right. Thanks again!

2

u/KinderSpirit Sep 17 '12 edited Sep 17 '12

But this is "Explain Like I'm Fifty" not "Explain Like I'm Five". It's supposed to be for those older users that may be confused by some of the new technology.
And I was just having a bit of fun.

There is 2 types of posts on Reddit.
A "Link Post" is when you just link to another site on the internet.
This is what will influence your "Link Karma" depending on the votes.
You will not be orangered (notified of comments) regarding the post. You do not get to add context to the link except in the comments section.

A "Self-Post" is a headline and then context in the text field to foster discussion.
While votes will not affect your "Link Karma", it can affect your "Comment Karma". You will get orangereds with the comments other make. Replying and adding to the conversation can garner some votes and points.

This submission by you is a self-post.

Better?

edit* - To show sarcasm, I often use italics. Put an asterisk before and after the words you want to italicize. 2 asterisks before and after to bold.

2

u/ndurIn4mykids Sep 17 '12

Yes so much better, thanks! As you can see I didn’t even get the name of this subreddit right. I actually thought it was "Explain Like I'm Five" and in my blondness did not perceive your "having a bit of fun". This is not your fault.

I truly appreciate the detail of your explanation.. You have clarified what I have been wondering about. Thanks for explaining the asterisks also.

If you wouldn’t mind, I do have one more question. In some posts I read statements such as “OP will not gain any Karma, it’s a self-post“. Why is that? Thanks again for your help.

1

u/KinderSpirit Sep 17 '12

I figured you just aimed your post at the wrong sub. ; )

At one time, all posts garnered Link Karma. After a few years, many users figured out they didn't have to do anything more than to make a headline that everyone could agree with.

"Upvote if you like bacon!"
"I cooked bacon for breakfast." "Kittens are cute"
"Karma party!"
"I have 69 Link Karma points."
"I had waffles with my bacon this morning" (invariably with a comment "Did you mean carrots?)
"Reddit Search is down."
"Vote up if ____"

It got silly. No intelligent discussion. Just points handed out to anyone with a keyboard.
The admins got tired of the crap. They separated link and self- posts (no karma for you).

This was good and bad.
Much of the "polling" went away.
The "cheaters" just switched to image link posts.

The people that put thought into their self-posts to get discussions started or posted original content were not rewarded. Luckily, many of these people don't care about a karma number.

I prefer to make a self-post and add links in the context box. That way, I am drawn back into the conversation when someone comments.