# What does upvote mean?

Canonical: https://postmesh.app/glossary/upvote

By PostMesh team. Published 2026-10-31; updated 2026-10-31.

An upvote is a vote of approval on a post or comment, cast by tapping the up arrow next to it on Reddit. Upvotes help decide what rises in a community and add to the poster's karma. A downvote, the down arrow, does the opposite.

## What upvote means

To upvote something is to vote for it. On [Reddit](/platform/reddit), every post and comment has an up arrow and a down arrow next to it. Tapping the up arrow is an upvote, and it says you think the post or comment adds something. Reddit's help center describes upvoting good contributions as simple good manners on the site.

A downvote is the opposite. Reddit says downvotes mean people think the content shouldn't be seen at all, and its community guidelines ask you to save them for things that don't contribute or are off-topic, not for opinions you happen to dislike. Upvotes and downvotes together decide what rises to the top of a community and what sinks.

The word works as a noun and a verb. Merriam-Webster defines an upvote as a vote made by clicking an on-screen icon to show approval of or agreement with an online comment or post, and to upvote as the act of doing it. So you can give a comment an upvote, or simply upvote it. Off Reddit, people use it loosely to mean "I agree", the way you might say "seconded" in a meeting.

## Where the word upvote comes from

Voting buttons are older than Reddit, and so is one half of the pair. Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of downvote as a noun to 2000, and of upvote, both noun and verb, to 2005. Downvote as a verb came later, with a first known use in 2009.

Reddit itself launched in 2005, according to Dictionary.com, the same year Merriam-Webster gives for upvote. Merriam-Webster doesn't credit any single site with the word. On Reddit, though, voting is the engine of the whole site: its help center calls Reddit a community-driven platform that relies on user votes to decide what is shown and surfaced across communities and conversations.

- 2000: First known use of downvote as a noun
- 2005: First known use of upvote as a noun and a verb
- 2005: Reddit launches, per Dictionary.com
- 2009: First known use of downvote as a verb

*Dates from Merriam-Webster's upvote and downvote entries and Dictionary.com's subreddit entry.*

## What upvotes do on Reddit

Votes decide visibility. Reddit's sorts show how. Hot favors posts that have recently been getting upvotes and comments, so it's where trending posts appear. Top favors posts with the highest upvote and comment totals, and you can limit it to a time period. New ignores votes entirely and shows the latest posts first. In search, Relevance weighs how rare your search words are along with a post's age, votes and comments. Comments can be sorted by Relevance, Top and New.

So an upvote early in a post's life does real work. Reddit's own advice for getting a post noticed is to share it in the most relevant community, because the more relevant it is, the more likely people are to upvote it so more people see it. That's also why a strong post in the wrong [subreddit](/glossary/subreddit) can sink without a trace.

Don't be surprised if you can't see a number. Reddit says vote counts aren't displayed for the first few hours after a post is created, so people aren't swayed by how others have voted, and some communities hide votes on posts and comments for a short time for the same reason.

**Upvote**
- Up arrow next to a post or comment
- Means it adds to the conversation
- Helps it rise in Hot and Top
- Adds to the poster's karma

**Downvote**
- Down arrow next to a post or comment
- Means it doesn't contribute or is off-topic
- Pushes it down the feed
- Lowers the poster's karma

*Based on Reddit Help: What are upvotes and downvotes? and What is karma?*

## How upvotes turn into karma

Karma is Reddit's running reflection of the votes your posts and comments receive. Reddit's help center says that as people upvote your content, your karma goes up, and that you earn it by taking part in communities you care about and making posts and comments people enjoy. Reddit's list of expressions defines it the same way: a score based on votes received.

Two details are worth knowing. First, Reddit says upvotes and karma don't have a one-to-one relationship, because karma is only an approximate reflection. Second, karma has a practical use: Reddit notes that some communities require a certain amount of karma before you can post there, to keep spam out. If you're new and your posts keep disappearing, that may be why. Our guide to [Reddit karma requirements](/blog/reddit-karma-requirements) explains the thresholds and how to meet them honestly, and Reddit points newcomers to a list of welcoming communities kept by r/NewToReddit, an unofficial help community.

1. **On reddit.com**: Click your avatar in the top right corner, then View Profile. Hover over your total karma in the profile card to see post and comment karma separately.
2. **In the iOS or Android app**: Open your profile page and tap the About tab to see the breakdown of post and comment karma.

## How to vote the way Reddit expects

Reddit's community guidelines, called Reddiquette, spend a surprising amount of time on voting. The short version: vote on the content, not on the person, and never try to game the count.

**Good voting habits on Reddit**
- [ ] Upvote what contributes to the conversation
- [ ] Downvote what's off-topic or adds nothing, not what you disagree with
- [ ] Read the article before you vote on a link
- [ ] Judge the content, not the familiar username
- [ ] Explain a downvote kindly if it helps
- [ ] Use one account per vote, never several

*Based on Reddit's Reddiquette and its multiple-accounts help page.*

The rules on manipulation are firmer than etiquette. Reddit's sitewide rules ban vote cheating, including using multiple accounts, voting services or automation to push counts up or down, and coordinating a group to target a post or a user. Reddit is fine with you having more than one account, but says voting on the same post or comment from more than one of them counts as vote manipulation. Downvoting something that's off-topic in a community you belong to is explicitly allowed.

## How people use upvote, on Reddit and off

On Reddit, people mostly just vote and move on. Reddiquette actually asks you not to announce your vote in a comment, since "upvote" on its own adds noise rather than discussion. Off Reddit, the word has become shorthand for approval in any group: you'll hear it in group chats, team channels and product feedback boards, where people upvote ideas they want built.

- Group chat: "Tacos on Friday? Upvote if you're in"
- Work channel: "Upvoting this, the new layout is much easier to read"
- Reddit comment worth making: "Upvoted, and here's the source for the second chart"
- Feedback board: "Upvoted the dark mode request, it's the one I want most"
- Friend recommending a post: "That answer deserves way more upvotes"
- Dry agreement in a thread: "Have an upvote for using the search bar first"

> The first example is fine among friends, but don't carry it to Reddit posts. Reddiquette lists "Upvote if you do this" among the ways people hint for votes, which it asks you not to do.

## When not to ask for upvotes

Reddit's guidelines are firm about asking for upvotes. Reddiquette asks you not to hint at votes, such as by asking whether a post deserves the front page, not to run polls through votes because vote fuzzing makes them unreliable, not to offer prizes for upvotes, and not to message people asking them to vote for your post. It says that last one will result in a ban from the admins.

Brands and creators feel the pull most, because a post that rises can bring real traffic. The way to earn upvotes is the boring one: post where the topic fits, follow the community's rules, write a clear title and stick around to answer comments as the [OP](/glossary/op). Reddit's guidelines also warn that flooding the site with many posts in a short span can trigger its spam filter, and that in severe cases it may [shadowban](/glossary/shadowban) the account, so your posts and votes are visible to you but nobody else.

| Term | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| Upvote | A vote of approval, the up arrow |
| Downvote | A vote of disapproval, the down arrow |
| Karma | An approximate score built from the votes your posts and comments receive |
| Vote fuzzing | Reddit's reason vote-based polls aren't reliable, per Reddiquette |
| Vote manipulation | Using extra accounts, services, bots or groups to change vote counts, which Reddit bans |

Votes are only one signal in a thread. If a community requires a [flair](/glossary/reddit-flair), a post without one may be removed no matter how many upvotes it collects, and in an [AMA](/glossary/ama) thread sorted by Top, the most upvoted questions sit at the top of the page. If you'd like help drafting a post that earns its votes, the [Reddit post generator](/tools/reddit-post-generator) can give you a first draft to edit.

## Questions

### What does it mean when someone upvotes you?

They think your post or comment adds something to the conversation. It nudges your content up the feed and adds to your karma.

### What is the opposite of an upvote?

A downvote, the down arrow next to a post or comment. It signals that the content doesn't contribute or is off-topic, and it pushes it down the feed.

### Why can't I see the upvotes on a post?

Reddit hides vote counts for the first few hours after a post is created, and some communities hide them for a while longer, so people aren't swayed by how others voted.

### Is one upvote one point of karma?

Not exactly. Reddit says karma is an approximate reflection of your votes, so upvotes and karma don't line up one to one.

### Is it OK to downvote something I disagree with?

Reddiquette asks you not to. Downvotes are meant for content that doesn't contribute or is off-topic, not for opinions you dislike.

### Can I upvote my own post from another account?

No. Reddit allows multiple accounts, but voting on the same post or comment from more than one of them is vote manipulation and breaks the Reddit Rules.

## Related terms

- [Subreddit](https://postmesh.app/glossary/subreddit)

- [OP](https://postmesh.app/glossary/op)

- [Flair](https://postmesh.app/glossary/reddit-flair)

- [AMA](https://postmesh.app/glossary/ama)

- [Ratio](https://postmesh.app/glossary/ratio)

- [Shadowban](https://postmesh.app/glossary/shadowban)

## Sources

- [Reddit Help: What are upvotes and downvotes?](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/7419626610708-What-are-upvotes-and-downvotes)

- [Reddit Help: What is karma?](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/204511829-What-is-karma)

- [Reddit Help: Why can't I see how many upvotes a post or comment has sometimes?](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/204511579-Why-can-t-I-see-how-many-upvotes-a-post-or-comment-has-sometimes)

- [Reddit Help: What filters and sorts are available?](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/19695706914196-What-filters-and-sorts-are-available)

- [Reddit Help: What can I do to get my posts noticed?](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/204519249-What-can-I-do-to-get-my-posts-noticed)

- [Reddit Help: Reddiquette](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette)

- [Reddit Help: Disrupting Communities](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043066412-Disrupting-Communities)

- [Reddit Help: Is it ok to create multiple accounts?](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/204535759-Is-it-ok-to-create-multiple-accounts)

- [Reddit Help: What do these expressions mean?](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205313845-What-do-these-expressions-mean)

- [Merriam-Webster: upvote (Wayback Machine copy, April 2026)](https://web.archive.org/web/20260417204026/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upvote)

- [Merriam-Webster: downvote (Wayback Machine copy, October 2025)](https://web.archive.org/web/20251013041359/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/downvote)

- [Dictionary.com: subreddit (Wayback Machine copy, December 2025)](https://web.archive.org/web/20251207140223/https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/subreddit/)