Can I post a link to my own article or product?
No. Rule 4 prohibits promoting any content in which you have any kind of financial or non-financial stake.
Subreddit guides
r/Futurology rules, stats, and what to post
A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/Futurology: 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
- 21,704,092
- Verified
- September 16, 2026
- Minimum account age
- 5 days
- Category
- Science and research communities
Rules can change, so Rankhog keeps verification dates and the original public Reddit sources visible.
Rule summary
- Rule 1 - Respect: Be respectful to others - this includes no hostility, racism, sexism, bigotry, etc.
- Rule 2 - Future Focus: Submissions must be *future focused*. All posts must have an initial comment, a **Submission Statement**, that suggests a line of future-focused discussion for the topic posted. We want this submission statement to elaborate on the topic being posted and suggest how it might be discussed in relation to the future. AI-focused posts are only allowed on the weekend.
- Rule 3 - Images: No memes, reaction gifs or similarly low effort content. Images/gifs require a starter comment.
- Rule 4 - No Spam, Petitions, Polls, or Fundraising: No spamming: this includes polls, surveys, school projects, market research, etc. This also includes promoting any content in which you have any kind of financial or non-financial stake.
- Rule 5 - Any Bots & AI Content Require Mod Approval: Any use of automated tools, bots, AI agents, or AI-generated/assisted content requires prior moderator approval.
- Rule 6 - Comment Quality: Comments must be on topic, contribute to the discussion and be of sufficient length. Comments that dismiss well-established science without compelling evidence are a distraction to discussion of futurology and may be removed.
- Rule 7 - Account age: Account age: >1 day to comment, >5 days to submit content
- Rule 8 - Negative Karma: Submissions and comments of accounts with negative karma will be removed
- Rule 9 - No Duplicates: Avoid posting content that is a duplicate of content posted within the last 7 days.
- Rule 10 - In Depth: Submissions with [in-depth] in the title have stricter post length and quality guidelines.
- Rule 11 - Title Quality: Titles should accurately and truthfully represent the content of the submission. Low effort posts will be removed.
- Rule 12 - Original Sources: Support original sources - avoid blogs/websites that are primarily rehosted content. AI generated text does not qualify as an original source.
- Rule 13 - Content age: Content older than 6 months must have [month, year] in the title.
Works well
- Share a peer-reviewed study about a new energy technology and write a submission statement about how it could reshape power grids in the coming years.
- Post an article from an original source about advances in space habitat design and write a submission statement asking how permanent settlements might change human society.
- Share research on lab-grown food systems with a submission statement discussing how synthetic agriculture could affect global land use.
- Post a piece about brain-computer interface trials and write a submission statement exploring the ethical questions around cognitive enhancement.
Avoid
- Posting a link to your own product, blog, or newsletter, since Rule 4 bans promoting any content with a financial or non-financial stake.
- Forgetting to write a submission statement comment right after posting, which violates Rule 2 - Future Focus.
- Sharing AI-generated or AI-assisted content without getting prior moderator approval as required by Rule 5.
- Posting AI-focused content on a weekday, since Rule 2 only allows it on the weekend.
- Linking to a rehosted blog when the original source exists, which breaks Rule 12 - Original Sources.
- Posting a duplicate of something shared in the last 7 days, which Rule 9 - No Duplicates prohibits.
What r/Futurology Is For
This community is devoted to Future(s) Studies and evidence-based speculation about the development of humanity, technology, and civilization. People come here to discuss where things are heading and share research or analysis about possible futures.
Rules That Matter Before Posting
The rules that matter most for anyone considering posting here are Rule 2 - Future Focus, which requires a submission statement comment, Rule 4 - No Spam, Petitions, Polls, or Fundraising, which bans promoting any content you have a stake in, and Rule 5 - Any Bots & AI Content Require Mod Approval, which requires prior moderator approval for any AI-related content. Rule 12 - Original Sources also matters because it tells you to link to the real source, not a rehosted blog.
What To Post
A good post here is a link to an original source article about a technology, scientific development, or societal trend that has clear implications for the future. Immediately after posting, you write a detailed submission statement comment that elaborates on the topic and suggests a line of future-focused discussion. If the content is older than 6 months, include the month and year in the title. If your post is about AI, only post on the weekend and get moderator approval first. Make sure your account is at least 5 days old and has positive karma before you submit anything.
What To Avoid
Do not promote any content you have a financial or non-financial stake in, as this falls under Rule 4 - No Spam, Petitions, Polls, or Fundraising. Do not post AI-generated or AI-assisted content without prior moderator approval. Do not post memes, reaction gifs, or low effort content. Do not post duplicates of content from the last 7 days. Do not use misleading titles. Do not post rehosted blog content when an original source exists. Do not run polls, surveys, or market research here.
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Common questions about r/Futurology
Do I need to write a comment after posting?
Yes. Rule 2 requires a submission statement that elaborates on the topic and suggests how it might be discussed in relation to the future.
Can I post about AI?
Only on the weekend for AI-focused posts, and any AI-generated or AI-assisted content needs prior moderator approval under Rule 5.
How old does my account need to be?
Your account must be older than 5 days to submit content and older than 1 day to comment, per Rule 7.
Can I share older articles?
Yes, but Rule 13 requires you to include the month and year in the title for content older than 6 months.
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