You may have noticed that some of the posts and replies on Reddit contain little gold badges. They are “gilded,” which means that someone spent real money to reward the author of the post with Reddit Gold. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is Reddit Gold?
Any Reddit account can reward other users’ posts or comments with visible gold, silver, or platinum rewards. These awards are worth coins, which are paid virtual goods that can be purchased directly from the site.
Usually these awards are given in recognition of a special message, whether it’s an incredibly successful pun, an insightful book review, or an act of kindness. In other cases, Reddit gold is given simply because someone had a lot of money in their subreddit to spend. The practice of rewarding posts is called “gilding.”
Also, often great posts are rewarded multiple times by different users.
What can you do with a Reddit Award?
In addition to a nice experience with your post and a fancy badge next to your name, Reddit awards also have several advantages.
If you get a silver award, you only get a badge. If you get a gold award, you get a week of Reddit premium and 100 coins that you can use to give someone silver. If you get a platinum award, you get a month of Reddit premium and 700 coins to reward people with silver or gold.
Reddit premium is an ad-free subscription service. If you go gold, you get to view the site without ads for an entire week, and this status unlocks several additional features that enhance your Reddit experience.
In addition, Reddit rewards add up to each other. So, if you get two gold awards on the same day, you get a premium subscription for two weeks.
Gilding is designed to encourage people to share the best content with the community. While karma serves a similar purpose, the rewards are tangible and worth the money.
Also, when you buy Reddit coins, it helps keep the site running. On the old version of the Reddit site, your profile had an information box that showed how much server time funded gifts on your behalf.
How do I get gilded, and how do I respond?
The easiest way to get “gilded” is to be active in the subreddits you are interested in. Most of the stuff that gets awards already has a lot of votes and feedback. Things like a useful beginner’s guide to a particular topic or an original, unique meme often get gilded. Also, in subreddits with a steady stream of news, the one who first posts a fresh story is often awarded.
How do I give Reddit Gold?
To get an award on the site, you need to buy Reddit coins. You can get them in three ways: buy them, get gold or platinum rewards, or subscribe to Reddit premium. In the latter case, you get 700 coins per month.
To get a silver, gold, or platinum award, you need to spend 100, 500, and 1,800 coins, respectively. To use the coins, simply go to the post you like and click the “give reward” button below.
The prompt will ask you which award you want to give and if you want to do it anonymously. You can also send a private message along with your gift.