Can I mention my product in my question?
No. The rules ban asking for goods, services, or favors, and loaded questions used for publicity are also banned.
Subreddit guides
r/AskReddit rules, stats, and what to post
A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/AskReddit: public rules, community context, posting fit, and startup-promotion risk before you publish.
By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog.
Subreddit guides combine public Reddit source URLs, captured rules, visible verification dates, and Rankhog's account-safety workflow.
Current public stats
- Members
- 59,747,534
- Verified
- September 28, 2026
- Category
- Cultural Q&A and regional perspective communities
Rules can change, so Rankhog keeps verification dates and the original public Reddit sources visible.
Rule summary
- Rule 1 - Questions must be clear and direct and may not use the body textbox: * All questions must be clear, written in English, and conclude with a question mark * All context in the title must be ***necessary to understanding the question***; do not give “example answers” in the post title (i.e. “Other than your mom, \_\_\_\_\_\_?”) * No text in the text box - any additional info from you must be added as a comment to your post [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_1)
- Rule 2 - No personal or professional advice requests: * Askreddit is NOT your personal or professional advice platform * Do not makes posts asking for professional advice - medical, legal, financial, or otherwise * All posts asking for advice must be generic and not specific to your situation alone * Do not use first person pronouns * No crowdsourcing naming or purchasing decisions [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_2)
- Rule 3 - Open ended questions only: * Post must be an open-ended discussion question * Title must not be phrased to allow a simple yes/no answer * No questions that have definite answers * Question must not be a poll or survey * No “Either/Or” type questions * Do not ask for NSFW links * Do not specify a length (eg "in three words...") or make your post into a game [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_3)
- Rule 4 - No personal info: * Do not post or seek any **real or fake** personal information (examples include: full names, phone numbers, email addresses, or social media accounts) * Only link another user's comment when it is relevant and **never** when it is to launch a personal attack or encourage others to do so * Do not ask questions designed to target specific usernames or links to social media [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_4)
- Rule 5 - No loaded questions: - Do not include an opinion, bias, or lead respondents towards expressing a specific opinion in your post title - Do not use this subreddit to promote a specific agenda or to gain positive or negative publicity for an entity or person [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_5)
- Rule 6 - [Serious] tagged posts are off-limits to jokes or irrelevant replies: * [Serious] posts are off-limits for joke replies and irrelevant or off-topic comments and discussion * If the OP asks for answers from a specific group in a [Serious] post, top level comments must be made from members of that group * Posts that do not receive relevant answers within an hour will be removed [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_6)
- Rule 7 - No begging for goods or services, or Reddit rewards: * Do not ask for Reddit rewards, money, goods, services,or favors * Do not form a brigade to draw positive or negative attention to posts or comments in AskReddit, even from other subreddits [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_7)
- Rule 8 - Be respectful to other users at all times and conduct your behaviour in a civil manner: * Do not make personal attacks, insult, or demean a specific group or person * Do not use slurs without relevant context and quotes * No blatant statements of bigotry * No posts that 'bait' users into breaking other rules * Zero tolerance for posts/comments that sexualize minors * Zero tolerance for posts/comments that encourage suicide [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_8)
- Rule 9 - No image only replies or large ascii art: * Comment replies must consist of more than just an image or link * No ASCII/emoji images over one line [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_9)
- Rule 10 - Harmful Misinformation: * Do not downplay the effects of a medical crisis * Do not undermine the efficacy of vaccines where there is widespread agreement among the medical and scientific communities * Do not encourage illegal activity * Do not encourage delayed medical treatment [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_10)
- Rule 11 - No spam, machine generated content or karma farming: * Do not post spam * Do not edit comments to mislead and/or advertise * Do not farm karma or shotgun comments * Bots are not allowed in r/AskReddit [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_11)
- Rule 12 - All content must be written in English: * All content must be written in English so that it is widely understood by the user base of the sub. * Posts not in English will be removed. * Comments not in English may be removed. [The full rule can be viewed here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/wiki/index/#wiki_rule_12)
Works well
- A broad experience question like asking people what surprised them when they first tried a category of tool, with no brand names and no first person pronouns.
- A habits question that invites stories, like asking people how they handle a common workflow, phrased so any reader can answer from their own life.
- An opinion-free discussion question about a problem space your product touches, where you learn from the answers instead of steering them.
- A comment from your own account after posting, adding context or your own answer, since the body textbox must stay empty.
Avoid
- Asking for advice about your own situation, because “Rule 2 - No personal or professional advice requests” bans posts specific to you and bans first person pronouns in titles.
- Putting any text in the body textbox, because “Rule 1 - Questions must be clear and direct and may not use the body textbox” forbids it.
- Writing a yes/no question or a question with one definite answer, because “Rule 3 - Open ended questions only” removes those.
- Loading your title with an opinion or an agenda, because “Rule 5 - No loaded questions” bans promotion of any entity or person.
- Dropping your product link or asking people to try your tool, because “Rule 7 - No begging for goods or services, or Reddit rewards” bans asking for goods, services, or favors.
- Editing your comments later to sneak in an advertisement, because “Rule 11 - No spam, machine generated content or karma farming” bans that and bans bots entirely.
What r/AskReddit Is For
r/AskReddit is the place to ask and answer thought-provoking questions. People come here to ask the whole community a question that anyone can answer from their own experience, and other people come to read the answers. The rules make it clear this is a question and answer room, not a help desk for your personal situation and not a place to push a product or an agenda. Every post is a single question in the title, and everything else happens in the comments.
Rules That Matter Before Posting
The big one is “Rule 1 - Questions must be clear and direct and may not use the body textbox”, which means your whole post is the title and the body textbox stays empty. “Rule 2 - No personal or professional advice requests” bans advice posts and first person pronouns, so you cannot ask about your own situation. “Rule 3 - Open ended questions only” kills yes or no questions, polls, either or questions, and anything with a definite answer. “Rule 5 - No loaded questions” bans opinions or bias in the title and bans using the subreddit to gain publicity for an entity or person, which is the rule that matters most for anyone marketing. “Rule 7 - No begging for goods or services, or Reddit rewards” bans asking for favors, and “Rule 11 - No spam, machine generated content or karma farming” bans spam, bots, and editing comments to advertise. “Rule 4 - No personal info” and “Rule 12 - All content must be written in English” round out the basics.
What To Post
A good post here is one clear, open-ended question written entirely in the title, ending with a question mark, with the body textbox left completely empty. Write it so the question is about a topic, not about you, which means no first person pronouns and no advice requests about your own situation. For a founder doing respectful marketing, the honest play is to ask a broad question about the problem space your product lives in, like asking people about their habits or experiences with a category, then join the comments as a normal participant. Make sure the title carries all necessary context, gives no example answers, and cannot be answered with yes or no. If you want to share your own perspective, do it as a comment on your own post, not in the title.
What To Avoid
Do not put anything in the body textbox, because any extra info has to go in a comment instead. Do not use first person pronouns like I or my in your title, and do not ask for advice about your own medical, legal, financial, or business situation. Do not ask a yes or no question, a poll, a survey, an either or question, or anything with a definite answer, and do not turn your post into a game or specify a length for answers. Do not load your title with an opinion or use the post to gain publicity for your company, your product, or yourself. Do not ask for money, goods, services, favors, or Reddit rewards, and never edit a comment later to advertise. Do not post spam, bots, or machine generated content, do not post or seek personal info even fake personal info, and keep everything in English.
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Common questions about r/AskReddit
Can I answer my own question in the comments?
Yes. The rules only require the post title to be a question, so you can share your own story in a comment.
Can I add context in the post body?
No. The rules say all context must live in the title and the body textbox must stay empty.
Does my question have to be in English?
Yes. The rules require all content to be written in English.
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