Big general subreddits
Best time to post in r/memes
The best and worst hours to post, the rules that get posts removed, and a check of your draft against both.
Posts in r/memes are most often removed for self-promotion issues. It is a public subreddit that allows only link posts and does not require post flair. In our latest sample of 800 recent posts, an estimated 93% were still up about a day later.
Memes! A way of describing cultural information being shared. An element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.
The best and worst hours to post in r/memes
In our sample of 800 recent and top r/memes posts, activity and scores peak around Saturday 2pm UTC, and are weakest around Tuesday 11pm UTC. Based on posts sampled through Sep 4, 2026. Times in this sentence are UTC; the grid below converts to your local timezone. Timing helps a clean post get seen. It does not save a post that breaks a rule.
- Window 1
Sat around 2pm
avg score 20540.5 · 4 posts sampled
- Window 2
Sun around 4pm
avg score 29975 · 2 posts sampled
- Window 3
Thu around 7am
avg score 17287.4 · 5 posts sampled
Your timezone: UTC (GMT+0). Darker cells mean more posts in our sample.
Compare r/memes against every tracked community on the best time to post on Reddit tool.
Estimated survival rate
93%
of 800 recent r/memes posts we sampled were still publicly visible about a day later.
How this is measured
Estimate. We sample recent public posts and check again about 18 hours later to count how many are still publicly visible. Posts removed at the moment of submission never become publicly visible at all, so the true removal rate is at least this high. Last sampled Sep 5, 2026.
r/memes rules: what actually gets removed
Each rule below is paired with the way it is most likely enforced. Where the rules state a number, we quote it. Where they do not, we say so instead of guessing.
1.Rule 1 - ALL POSTS MUST BE MEMES and FOLLOW A GENERAL MEME FORMAT
Enforcement variesAll posts must follow typical meme setup/design: an image/gif/video with some sort of caption; mods have final say on what is (not) a meme; tldr: - No titles as meme captions - A GIF/video alone (without caption) is not a meme [especially screen recording / scrolling] - Do not post screenshots of people saying something funny on Twitter/Tumblr/Reddit/TikTok/text messages - No unedited webcomics - No text-only memes - No IRL recreations or creepshots; no selfies or making friends into a meme
2.Rule 2 - NO MEMES ABOUT POLARIZING/POLITICAL TOPICS, VULNERABLE GROUPS, VIOLENCE, ETC. [SEE LIST]
Enforcement varies- No violation of Reddit Content Policy/TOS - No memes involving race, ethnicity, color, nationality, gender, sexual orientation/identity, religion, disability, etc. (can have a character, but that part cannot be integral) - No mention of gore, murder, suicide, death, terrorism, shootings, war, tragedies, sexual harassment/assault, pedophilia (even implied), incest, etc. - No politics/political topics/agendas; absurd memes featuring politicians are allowed if said status is merely incidental
3.Rule 3 - NO SPAM/CHAINPOSTING and NO OVERUSED/PROHIBITED MEME TEMPLATES [SEE LIST]
Enforcement varies- [List of overused/prohibited meme types/templates](https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/wiki/overused) READ THE LIST (monthly) - Reaction Memes are not allowed. Do not post a top/bottom image onto a screenshot, headline, comic, meme, or other content. [See guide.](https://imgur.com/a/CRwobws) - No split/linked posts (either between yourself or others), no chainposting. Do not flood the sub - NSFW posts must be marked; the central focus of the meme cannot be porn - Do not post over 5 times per 24 hrs
4.Rule 4 - NO INTERACTION-BAITING POSTS/TITLES and NO IDENTIFYING INFO/WATERMARKS
Enforcement varies- No usernames (other than your Reddit u/); do not show/link any social media/self-promote - Other than soft identifiers like mematic, no watermarks (iFunny is not allowed) - Do not post/request identifying info. - No posts relying on audience interaction (karma farms); examples: petitions, AMAs, "Comment X and I'll do Y", "wrong answers only", guessing/writing/rating songs, etc. [rhetorical questions may be OK, subject to mod judgment] - No mention of votes/cake days/karma/followers, etc.
5.Rule 5 - NO VIDEOS LONGER THAN 15 SECONDS and DIRECT REDDIT UPLOADS ONLY (NO LINKS)
Enforcement varies- Upload directly to Reddit; do not link to hosting sites like imgur - No videos longer than 15 seconds (and must include captions/meme text overlay) - No intentionally loud audio - Videos should not be TikToks or other non-meme content: Not every image/gif/video is a meme. This is what r/pics, r/gifs, or r/videos are for. Even if an image is comedic, it still may not be a meme if it's missing a caption/commentary - Gifs (w/ captions) are always allowed, as long as they don't violate other rules
6.Rule 6 - ONLY POST MEMES YOU MADE YOURSELF / NO REPOSTS / NO BAD CROPPING OR LOW-RES MEMES / NO AI
Enforcement varies- If you found a meme somewhere else, do not post it here - If you want to post across other sites/subs, post to r/memes first. We will not look into your social media to verify the creator - Do not repost your meme again later. Mentioning the word "repost" is grounds for removal - Do not post AI-generated memes - Mods have discretion to remove posts which are poorly cropped, low resolution, grainy, or pixelated.
r/memes does not publish karma or account-age minimums in its rules. Subreddits often enforce unpublished filters on top of what they write down, which is why posts from new accounts can vanish without a message here.
Can you self-promote in r/memes?
No. r/memes bans self-promotion outright: product links, launch posts, and thinly framed feedback posts get removed. The sub's own wording: "no usernames (other than your Reddit u/); do not show/link any social media/self-promote". If you want eyes on your project, contribute first and look for communities with a promo lane.
r/memes by the numbers
- Members
- 36M
- Active right now
- Not public
- Posts / day
- 106
- 3K comments / day
- Community age
- 18 years
- since Jul 5, 2008
| Median title length | Posts with a link | Posts with flair | Dominant format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 characters | 100% | 0% | image posts |
What gets removed in r/memes
Self-promotion
r/memes bans self-promo outright. Product links, launch posts, and thinly framed "feedback" posts are removed.
Low karma or a new account
r/memes publishes no karma or age minimum, but unpublished account filters are common at this size. New accounts should comment before posting.
AI-generated content
r/memes removes content it judges to be AI-generated. Obvious AI phrasing in a draft raises removal risk even when a human wrote most of it.
Reddit's sitewide spam filter
A separate layer before the subreddit ever sees your post. New accounts posting links, URL shorteners, and repeated domains are its favorite targets. Removals are instant and silent.
A shadowbanned account
If the account itself is shadowbanned, every post looks live to you and invisible to everyone else, in any subreddit.
Wondering about a post that already disappeared? Start with why Reddit posts get removed or run the free shadowban check.
Subreddits like r/memes
Posting somewhere adjacent? Each of these has its own rules and its own removal pattern. Check the one you actually plan to post in.
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r/memes posting questions
Can I post links in r/memes?
Yes. r/memes accepts link posts. The usual sitewide traps still apply: URL shorteners, affiliate parameters, and brand-new domains get filtered fast, and promotional links are judged against the sub's self-promo rules. One clean link to the original source is the safe pattern.
Does r/memes require karma to post?
r/memes does not publish a karma minimum. That does not mean there is none: many subreddits enforce unpublished karma and account-age filters that remove posts silently. If your account is new or has little karma, that is the first thing to rule out when a post disappears.
Can you self-promote in r/memes?
No. r/memes bans self-promotion outright: product links, launch posts, and thinly framed feedback posts get removed. The sub's own wording: "no usernames (other than your Reddit u/); do not show/link any social media/self-promote". If you want eyes on your project, contribute first and look for communities with a promo lane.
Is r/memes strict?
Moderate, by our estimate (30/100 on our strictness scale, from its measured removal rate, 6 rules, and its stated gates). About 7% of recent posts disappeared within a day in our sample. Strictness is about enforcement, not hostility: a strict sub is predictable if you follow its rules.
Does r/memes allow AI-generated content?
No. r/memes removes content it judges to be AI-generated. That includes obviously AI-phrased text even when a human edited it, so rewrite drafts in your own voice before posting here.
What is the best time to post in r/memes?
Based on our sample of recent and top posts, activity and scores peak around Saturday 2pm UTC and Sunday 4pm UTC. Treat this as a starting point, not a guarantee: a post that breaks a rule gets removed at any hour. The heatmap on this page converts these windows to your local time.
Why do posts get removed in r/memes?
The most common reasons are self-promotion violations, plus the layers every subreddit has: Reddit's sitewide spam filter, unpublished AutoMod rules, and account-level gates like karma and age. In our recent sample, roughly 7% of r/memes posts disappeared within about a day of going up. Many removals are silent, so checking your draft first beats finding out after.
Rules last checked Sep 3, 2026
Go deeper: how AutoMod removals work, the shadowban explainer, or earning karma the allowed way.
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