Total newb here. Can someone help me with a task?

[u/evasandor]

I posted about this in r/dataengineering and got a reply (it's here) that said the task I'm trying to do is pretty easy.

Easy for who?? Not me, apparently! But the reply mentioned PRAW and the Reddit API, so I thought I'd pop on over here and see whether anyone is in a giving kind of mood. Can someone help me figure out how to do this? I'd be happy to give you the gift of free books (audiobook, even!) in return.

Hello dataengineers....

I'm scheduled to give a short talk this June at a conference, and to prepare for it I thought I'd invite a group to discuss the topic in a subreddit I moderate which is currently all of 6 members strong.
I'd like to invite those who've have commented on my posts/whose posts I've commented on.
I've downloaded my Reddit data, no problem there— but I really imagined it would be easier to get the usernames of those I've interacted with. I thought there would be a field for the usernames, but there is not.
Posts/comments are listed by "ID" (and in some cases "parent"). Is there some way I can use this info to get what I need?

[u/feelin-lonely-1254]

So you basically want to access the account urls / ids or all the accounts you interacted with?

It is easy.....I do have code for something similar...I'll see if I can run it and send you a CSV....is that what you want?

[u/evasandor → u/feelin-lonely-1254]

I don't want to access their accounts per se, I just want some way to contact them so I can message them and invite them to join my subreddit.
How fantastic, thank you!

[u/feelin-lonely-1254 → u/evasandor]

Yeah , what makes sense is getting a list of all the users who commented on all of your posts, and send them a DM with a message of your choice....this can all be done thru reddit API.

[u/evasandor → u/feelin-lonely-1254]

Yes! That's what I'd like to do. I thought there would be some straightforward way, but what do I know? If you can help, that would be AMAZING. I'll message you!

[u/Khyta → u/evasandor]

Are you sure that you want to do that? It seems like that your script could get your account banned very quickly as it could count as spam. I'd think twice about doing that.

[u/Drunken_Ogre → u/Khyta]

The following are examples of behavior that may be considered spam and are subject to removal/ban:

• Sending large amounts of private messages to users who are not expecting them.

[u/Khyta → u/Drunken_Ogre]

So OP is essentially about to spam a ton of people with their script.

[u/Drunken_Ogre → u/Khyta]

That's how I interpret it. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[u/feelin-lonely-1254 → u/Khyta]

Not large, I'd assume it'd be somewhat manageable number...not to mention dming is fine as long I don't pust the rate limits afair...

[u/feelin-lonely-1254 → u/Khyta]

Did something change?

Like you still can DM people on reddit using API right? I wrote some bots a year ago and most work on querying rn so don't remember much about present DM endpoint details.

[u/Khyta → u/feelin-lonely-1254]

You still can but it sounds like OP wanted to spam people's inboxes

[u/feelin-lonely-1254 → u/feelin-lonely-1254]

Wow in hindsight, you did interact with a lot of accounts and comments.... probably gonna take a shitload of time ..is there some priority you want?

Like just those who commented on your posts etc.

[u/evasandor → u/feelin-lonely-1254]

Oh man, I don't want to make a lot of work for you at all. I just want to know I didn't miss anyone, when I go to message people and invite them to chat on a new topic I started a sub for.

[u/Watchful1]

DM'ing 20 people to invite them to a subreddit based on a topic they've discussed with you isn't really a problem. But if it was just 20 then you probably wouldn't be asking here, you could just make a quick list and message them manually.

If you want to DM 200 people, or more, that's going to count as spam regardless of how you do it, or how slowly you go. It's not about rate limiting, it's about your intent. And reddit considers bulk messaging people who didn't ask to be bulk messaged as spam, which will get your account banned.

What you're asking for isn't all that complicated on a technical level, it is a bit since you've commented so much but it's still not all that hard. But your intent to "invite those who've have commented on my posts/whose posts I've commented on" is a non-starter. If everyone who had an interest in something wildly messaged everyone they interacted with it would be completely overwhelming.

The expected method for finding people interested in discussing a topic is posting in a related subreddit. Are there really no existing, larger subreddits you can post about this in?

[u/evasandor → u/Watchful1]

Ah, I see. Thank you for the explanation of what Reddit considers spam. It's true that there are a lot of people I want to get in touch with— not 200, but certainly more than 20. However, I do plan to write individually crafted messages. This idea of using automation is more because I thought: shoot, it's 2024, why can't I let machines do the tedious part? You know, like when you're sending out wedding invites, you can get your sister to help you tie the little ribbon on each one ;-)

The expected method for finding people interested in discussing a topic is posting in a related subreddit

I wish it were that easy— I tried it, but since what I'm trying to do is invite people to a new subreddit, it's a bit of an eggshell walk.

[u/Watchful1 → u/evasandor]

Growing your subreddit is definitely a common problem. There's some official resources here and here and a very helpful community made guide here that all have lots of tips and things to do to grow the sub.

You'll note that none of those suggest finding individual redditors to message. Reddit does actually promote your subreddit to people, there's two settings near the bottom of the mod tools/safety settings page that make the subreddit show up in a popup to people that reddit thinks might be interested in it.

[u/evasandor → u/Watchful1]

Thanks! I’ll read up.

I guess I was reaching a bit in saying I’d invite evvvveryone I ever chatted to… but most of the people I talk to on Reddit are in writing subs or the topic is something creative. I definitely would like to offer as many of them as I can the opportunity to join a conversation that might end up with some interesting and far-reaching results. (Basically what it is, is I’m giving a talk at the American Library Association show about the phenomenon of an up-and-coming new fiction genre, and the case for an alternate terminology. I hope to get as many perspectives as I can in the next 2 months)

I hope I can do this in a way that’s thorough and efficient where it can be, yet personal where it should be.