What r/AskReddit Comments Get Upvoted: A 4,808-Comment Case Study

r/AskReddit is the largest discussion subreddit on Earth.

Top comments here regularly hit 20,000+ upvotes. The biggest ones break 35,000. That's not a typo.

For context, the highest-scoring comment in our previous r/SEO case study earned 279 upvotes. On r/AskReddit, you'd need to multiply that by 130x just to crack the top 10.

This is comment dynamics at maximum scale.

And the patterns are the opposite of what we found on r/SEO.

We pulled the top 100 posts of the month from r/AskReddit on April 7, 2026, and analyzed every visible comment beneath them. That's 4,808 hand-classified comments, scored against real upvote counts.

What we found will change how you think about writing comments that get upvoted — especially if you've been applying r/SEO logic to story-driven subreddits.

Personal anecdotes? Kings here. Humor? Surprisingly weak. Lists? Same disaster as r/SEO.

Let's break it down.

The Setup: 4,808 r/AskReddit Comments Analyzed

We wanted real data. Not opinions. Not vibes.

So we scraped the top 100 posts of the month from r/AskReddit and pulled every visible comment under each thread.

That gave us 4,808 comments to work with.

The scale here is wild. Across those 100 posts, the total accumulated score was 844,158 upvotes. The total comment count? 413,269.

The average post collected 8,442 upvotes and 4,133 comments.

For comparison, the average r/SEO post in our previous study collected 39 upvotes and 46 comments.

That makes r/AskReddit roughly 200x more active than r/SEO.

Why does that matter?

Because at this scale, the noise cancels out. Patterns become statistically obvious. You can't get a 30,000-upvote comment by accident.

Each comment was tagged across multiple dimensions:

• Length in words (5 buckets, from 1-20 to 201+)
• Comment type — humor, contrarian, anecdote, list, question, and 8 others
• Presence of numbers, links, and credentials
• Tone signals — agreement, professional perspective, callout

Comments often fell into multiple categories. A long-form personal anecdote with a contrarian twist counted in all three.

Here are the bucket sizes and average upvotes for every comment type:

Comment Type	Avg Upvotes	Sample Size
Long-Form (100+ words)	2,657	464
Personal Anecdote	2,618	631
Actionable Steps	2,542	334
Numbers / Stats	2,441	824
Case Study	2,305	37
Contrarian	2,127	325
Lists	2,048	57
Data-Backed	2,004	171
One-Liners (≤15 words)	1,969	1,730
Questions	1,871	509
Humor / Wit	1,865	186
Direct Links	1,752	58
Agreement	1,600	190

Now the fun part — what those numbers actually mean.

Finding #1: Personal Anecdotes Are King on r/AskReddit

This is the headline finding.

Personal anecdote comments averaged 2,618 upvotes. That's second only to "long-form" and effectively tied with it.

Let that land for a second.

On r/SEO, personal anecdotes scored just 2.8 average upvotes — third from the bottom. They were one of the worst-performing comment types.

On r/AskReddit, the same comment type is at the top.

Same content style. Opposite outcomes.

Why the dramatic flip?

Because r/AskReddit is built for stories.

Every single post is some variation of "tell me about your..." or "what's the most..." or "have you ever..."

Those questions don't want advice. They want experiences.

Look at the #1 highest-scoring comment in our entire dataset. It earned +36,123 upvotes:

"When I first moved out on my own, I needed a better vacuum. The dog shed, the vacuum I had was useless. My mom offered to buy me a Dyson..."

It's a 90-word personal story about a vacuum.

Not a list. Not data. Not a hot take. A story.

The post asked: "What is a 'buy it for life' item that is offensively expensive, but the moment you get it..." The answer? Tell us about yours.

The lesson here is enormous. The same content style can be the worst performer in one subreddit and the best performer in another. Match the question, not the genre.

If a subreddit asks for stories, deliver a story. If it asks for advice, deliver methodology. Mixing them up is how you bomb.

Finding #2: Long-Form Wins Decisively

This is where r/AskReddit and r/SEO finally agree.

Long-form comments win.

The 101-200 word bucket averaged 2,730 upvotes. That's 38% higher than the 1-20 word death zone at 1,973.

Here's the full table:

Length	Avg Upvotes	Sample Size
1-20 words	1,973	2,164
21-50 words	2,173	1,444
51-100 words	2,222	743
101-200 words	2,730	361
201+ words	2,376	96

This is a clean upward curve. Each length bucket performs better than the last — until 201+ words, where it dips.

The magic zone? 101 to 200 words.

Same as r/SEO. Same as basically every Reddit dataset we've ever looked at.

This destroys the "Reddit hates long comments" myth.

Reddit doesn't hate long. Reddit hates boring. Long-form comments win because they have room to build a story, tell a joke with timing, or land a contrarian point with evidence.

One-liners can do exactly one of those three things.

And on r/AskReddit specifically, where stories rule, one-liners almost never can.

The takeaway is simple. If you're going to comment on r/AskReddit, give yourself the room to actually tell a story. 100-200 words. Use the space.

This connects to Reddit comment formatting — the structure of your comment matters as much as its content.

Finding #3: Humor Underperforms (Surprising)

Here's the most counterintuitive finding in the dataset.

Humor scored just 1,865 average upvotes — third from the bottom.

This is the OPPOSITE of r/SEO, where humor was the #1 winner at 7.9 average upvotes — nearly double the next category.

Same comment style. Opposite result. Again.

What's going on?

Humor saturation.

r/AskReddit is overflowing with one-liner jokes. Every thread has dozens of them. They cancel each other out.

On r/SEO, a funny comment stands out because the rest of the thread is dry marketing talk. On r/AskReddit, your joke is competing with a hundred other jokes from people who've been doing the r/AskReddit comedy schtick for years.

The few humor comments that DID hit big in our dataset? They were highly specific, politically charged, or weirdly perfect for the moment.

Like this one — +26,605 upvotes for a 13-word reply:

"600 new posts will appear on reddit with everybody fighting for that karma"

That's not a generic joke. It's meta-commentary on Reddit itself, perfectly tuned to the audience.

Or this one at +26,516 upvotes:

"They should tell him they'll only negotiate with Obama. That would be the perfect troll."

15 words. Politically charged. Specific to the post. Perfect timing.

Generic humor on r/AskReddit dies. Specific, contextual humor can still win — but the bar is way higher than on a smaller professional subreddit.

The lesson? Comedic value alone isn't enough on r/AskReddit. You need substance behind the joke. Or a take so sharp it doubles as commentary.

Finding #4: Professional Perspective Comments Punch Above Their Weight

This pattern jumped out the second we started reading the top 100 comments.

Comments that opened with credentials kept appearing.

"Lawyer here..." "As a used bookstore owner..." "Nurse with 20 years experience..."

And they kept winning.

Look at this one. +25,951 upvotes for a 10-word answer:

"Lawyer here. About 50% of lawyers I go up against."

Ten. Words.

Or this one at +21,794 upvotes:

"As a used bookstore owner, I am fairly confident people will be dragging copies of Stephen King books..."

50 words. Niche credential. Crushing it.

Why does this format work?

Because credentials let readers borrow authority instantly.

A Reddit user reading "Lawyer here" doesn't need to verify the claim. They mentally tag the comment as credible and read it through that lens. The opinion that follows gets a credibility boost it wouldn't have earned otherwise.

This works on r/AskReddit specifically because most posts ask for opinions, perspectives, or insider experiences. Credentials directly answer the implicit question: why should I believe you?

The format is simple. State your job in the first 3 words. Then deliver an opinion only someone in that job could credibly give.

It's basically social proof on Reddit compressed into a single sentence.

Important caveat: don't fake it. Reddit users are remarkably good at sniffing out fake credentials, and the punishment is brutal. If you can't honestly say "lawyer here," don't.

Finding #5: The 200+ Word Cliff

Long-form wins. We covered that.

But there's a ceiling.

Comments over 200 words averaged just 2,376 — lower than the 101-200 sweet spot at 2,730.

Not a disaster. But a clear drop-off.

Why does the curve break at 200 words?

Because that's roughly the threshold where a comment starts to look like a wall of text.

Reddit's comment view shows about 100-150 words before the eye starts skimming. Past 200, you're asking the reader to commit. Most won't.

The takeaway: long-form is rewarded, but there's a limit.

Tell your story in 100-200 words. Be vivid. Be specific. But don't ramble.

If your draft is hitting 250 words, cut it. Find the boring sentences and delete them. The story will get sharper.

One of the top comments in our dataset proves this. +25,930 upvotes for a 59-word personal story:

"A school in London had to pay me £35,000 compensation after telling me I was taking too long to recover from cancer treatment..."

59 words. Massive story. Specific number. Done.

That's what the sweet spot looks like. Not 200 words. Sometimes 60.

Finding #6: Lists Don't Work Here Either

Lists scored 2,048 average upvotes on r/AskReddit. Below the dataset median.

Sound familiar?

On r/SEO, lists also underperformed at 2.5 average upvotes — among the worst comment types.

Two completely different subreddits. Two completely different audiences. Same result.

This is starting to look like a universal Reddit rule.

Reddit users don't upvote lists in comments.

Why?

Because lists feel like LinkedIn posts. They feel scripted. Bullet points telegraph "I prepared this in advance" — which kills the conversational vibe Reddit runs on.

r/AskReddit specifically rewards storytelling. A list of 5 things looks like a content marketer doing keyword research, not a person sharing a moment.

Compare a bulleted answer to "What is something you'll never do again?" with a 90-word story about the time you tried to fix your own plumbing. Same information. Vastly different upvote outcomes.

Lists don't work on Reddit. Period.

If you have multiple points, weave them into a paragraph or write a short story that touches on all of them. The format of "1. 2. 3." kills upvotes in every dataset we've ever looked at.

The Top 10 r/AskReddit Comments — Decoded

Patterns are useful. Specifics are better.

Here are the 10 highest-scoring comments from our dataset, with what made each one work.

1. +36,123 — 90 words, personal anecdote

"When I first moved out on my own, I needed a better vacuum. The dog shed, the vacuum I had was useless. My mom offered to buy me a Dyson..."

The vacuum buy-it-for-life story. Hits the 100-word sweet spot. Personal, specific, emotionally warm. The platonic ideal of an r/AskReddit comment.

2. +34,198 — 38 words, contrarian + data

"Elsevier, the company that makes a lot of the compulsory textbooks for University, commissioned scientists to develop a way to make textbooks 'unsellable' after one term."

An insider exposé delivered in a single tight paragraph. Contrarian truth + specific company name + obvious villain. People love feeling like they just learned a secret.

3. +29,013 — 2 words

"Will Smith"

The exception that proves the rule. Sometimes the perfect punchline answer to a perfectly framed question is two words. But this is rare. Don't plan on it.

4. +28,102 — 6 words, contrarian

"He'll do literally anything for attention"

Sharp dismissal. No nuance. Hits the emotional consensus the thread was already forming.

5. +26,890 — 15 words, contrarian

"Running a small business. People picture freedom and passion, not the stress and constant worrying."

The "what people get wrong about X" format. Contrarian against a romantic assumption. Backed by implied lived experience.

6. +26,624 — 36 words, personal anecdote

"Was at a party and had a sudden mid conversation realization that we were all standing uncomfortably close to each other..."

A vivid micro-story. Specific setting. Specific moment. Specific feeling. People remember moments like this.

7. +26,605 — 13 words, humor

"600 new posts will appear on reddit with everybody fighting for that karma"

Meta-commentary on Reddit itself. The audience IS Reddit, so jokes about Reddit hit hardest.

8. +26,516 — 15 words, humor

"They should tell him they'll only negotiate with Obama. That would be the perfect troll."

Politically charged + perfectly specific to the post. The rare humor comment that earned its upvotes.

9. +25,980 — 2 words

"Any Skarsgård."

Another two-word phenom. The pattern: a perfect noun answer to a perfect question. Don't try to manufacture this.

10. +25,951 — 10 words, professional perspective

"Lawyer here. About 50% of lawyers I go up against."

The credential-borrowed-authority play. Ten words. Brutal. Memorable.

Look at the patterns:

• Three are personal anecdotes — including the #1 by a wide margin
• Three are contrarian takes with implicit authority
• Two are humor — but specific and contextual, not generic
• One is a professional credential play
• Two are perfect-noun two-word answers (rare and unrepeatable)
• None are lists
• None are direct links
• None are pure agreement

Other notable comments outside the top 10 reinforce the playbook:

+25,460 (137 words, expert insight): "Zinus memory foam mattresses are made with fiberglass fibers. If you open a zipper..." — A long-form expert warning. Niche knowledge + safety angle.

+20,870 (86 words, story): "A guy I knew in college got obsessed with domain names back in the early 2000s..." — A character-driven story with a punchline. Hits the sweet spot length perfectly.

This is the entire r/AskReddit playbook on one page. Story, credential, contrarian observation. 100-200 words ideally. No lists.

r/SEO vs r/AskReddit: The Same Tactic Doesn't Work Everywhere

This is the most important section of this article.

Because if you read our r/SEO case study and tried to apply those lessons here, you'd bomb spectacularly.

Look at the side-by-side:

Factor	r/SEO Wins	r/AskReddit Wins
Best comment type	Humor (7.9 avg)	Long-form personal anecdote (2,657 avg)
Best length	101-200 OR <20 words	101-200 words only
Personal anecdotes	Underperform (2.8 avg)	Crush it (2,618 avg)
Humor	#1 (7.9 avg)	Below average (1,865 avg)
Tool/brand mentions	Underperform	Underperform
Lists	Underperform (2.5 avg)	Underperform (2,048 avg)
Scale	Avg 39 upvotes/post	Avg 8,442 upvotes/post

Read that table twice.

The same content style — personal anecdotes — is the worst-performing format on r/SEO and the best-performing format on r/AskReddit.

Humor goes the other direction. #1 on r/SEO. Near-bottom on r/AskReddit.

Two things stay consistent across both subreddits:

1. The 101-200 word sweet spot wins. This is the closest thing we've found to a universal Reddit rule.
2. Lists lose. In every dataset. Skip them.

Everything else? Subreddit-dependent.

The takeaway: understand the subreddit's culture before you comment. Don't bring r/SEO tactics to r/AskReddit. Don't bring r/AskReddit tactics to r/SEO. The same words can be brilliant in one place and invisible in another.

This is why we keep emphasizing it across our Reddit marketing guide and our breakdown of Reddit engagement strategies: subreddit fit is everything.

And it's also why how upvotes rank comments matters so much. Even a great comment in the wrong subreddit gets buried.

What This Means for Your Reddit Strategy

Time to translate findings into action.

Here are the 5 rules that emerge from comparing 6,538 total comments across both case studies.

1. Match the subreddit's content style

Storytelling on r/AskReddit. Wit on r/SEO. Methodology on r/Entrepreneur. Tutorials on r/learnprogramming.

Before you comment, sort top of the month and read the highest-scoring comments. Identify the dominant voice. Match it.

One-size-fits-all Reddit advice is the fastest way to get ignored.

2. Long-form (101-200 words) wins almost everywhere

This is the universal rule.

Both case studies pointed to the same sweet spot. Long enough to deliver real substance. Short enough that people actually read it.

If your draft is under 100 words, ask whether you can add specificity. If it's over 200, cut.

3. Personal stories work IF the subreddit is built for stories

r/AskReddit, r/relationships, r/AmItheAsshole, r/tifu — these subs are story-shaped at the core.

r/SEO, r/marketing, r/Entrepreneur — these subs ask for advice. Stories underperform there.

Don't pick "I'll tell a story" as your default. Pick it when the subreddit asked for one.

4. Borrow professional authority in opinion-driven subs

"Lawyer here..." "Nurse here..." "I worked at Google for 8 years..."

Credentials let readers tag your comment as credible in milliseconds. They're worth thousands of upvotes on opinion-heavy subreddits like r/AskReddit.

Just don't fake them. Reddit punishes that brutally.

5. Skip lists on Reddit comments

In every dataset we've analyzed, lists underperform. They feel scripted, content-marketed, and out of place.

If you have multiple points, weave them into a paragraph. Or write a story that touches on all of them.

Bullets belong on LinkedIn. Reddit wants paragraphs.

Together, those five rules cover most of what you need to know about Reddit comment marketing — and they connect to the deeper principles in our Reddit marketing guide and our breakdown of comments vs posts.

One more thing.

Reddit's spam guidelines exist for a reason. The patterns that win in our datasets — stories, credentials, contrarian insight — also happen to be the patterns Reddit's anti-manipulation systems consider least spammy.

Good comments aren't just better for upvotes. They're safer.

That's not a coincidence. It's the same signal interpreted by two different systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do personal anecdotes work on r/AskReddit but not r/SEO?

r/AskReddit posts literally ask for stories ("What is something that..."), so a personal anecdote IS the on-topic answer. r/SEO posts ask for advice, so a single anecdote feels non-generalizable.

Match the subreddit's question type and stories crush. Mismatch and they bomb.

What's the optimal Reddit comment length?

101-200 words. This is the closest thing we've found to a universal Reddit rule across both case studies.

On r/AskReddit, this bucket averaged 2,730 upvotes — 38% higher than the 1-20 word range.

Do humor comments work on Reddit?

It depends on the subreddit. Humor was #1 on r/SEO (7.9 avg) and near-bottom on r/AskReddit (1,865 avg).

Always check whether your target subreddit already has humor saturation before leaning on jokes.

How can professional credentials boost upvotes?

Comments opening with "Lawyer here..." or "As a [profession]..." consistently broke into the r/AskReddit top 100. They let readers borrow authority instantly.

State your job in the first 3 words. Deliver an opinion only that profession can credibly give.

Should I write differently in different subreddits?

Yes. The same comment style that wins on r/SEO loses on r/AskReddit.

Sort top of the month, read the highest-scoring comments, and match the dominant voice. Our team does this for every order.