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Best time to post in r/self

The best and worst hours to post, the rules that get posts removed, and a check of your draft against both.

Posts in r/self are most often removed for self-promotion issues. It is a public subreddit that does not allow link posts and does not require post flair. In our latest sample of 800 recent posts, an estimated 92% were still up about a day later.

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The best and worst hours to post in r/self

In our sample of 800 recent and top r/self posts, activity and scores peak around Saturday 12pm UTC, and are weakest around Saturday 10am 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.

Times in your timezoneUTC · GMT+0

Window 1
Sat around 12pm
avg score 358 · 6 posts sampled
Window 2
Sat around 12am
avg score 386.2 · 5 posts sampled
Window 3
Sun around 5pm
avg score 202.1 · 8 posts sampled

Your timezone: UTC (GMT+0). Darker cells mean more posts in our sample.

Compare r/self against every tracked community on the best time to post on Reddit tool.

Estimated survival rate

92%

of 800 recent r/self 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.

Strictness: ModeratePublic subText posts onlyFlair optionalSelf-promo bannedAI content banned

r/self 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.Be excellent to each other.
Enforcement varies
We encourage constructive feedback that helps members grow and improve. Debating is allowed but please ensure submissions and comments maintain a positive and respectful tone, avoiding self-deprecation, self-disparagement, or unkind language. No toxic discourse or harassment, including but not limited to sexual overtones, hatred of ethnicity/race/gender identity/sexual orientation. No witch hunts.
2.No AI use
Enforcement varies
AI-generated text is not allowed; This includes using AI to touch up text you've written yourself. Rule of thumb: If we can tell it's AI, it's not allowed. Keep r/self authentic and personal.
3.No spam, sale threads, promotion, giveaways, assistance/fundraising requests, or self-advertisement
Enforcement varies
No spam, sale threads, promotion, giveaways, assistance/fundraising requests, or self-advertisement. Also no cryptocurrency posts. Please try in /r/assistance or /r/gofundme instead.
4.Nothing related to self-harm, self-hate posts or spreading personal information
Enforcement varies
Nothing related to self-harm or spreading personal information. The help you need is not here. Doxxing others will result in a permanent ban. Self-hate posts are also not allowed. Suggesting others or yourself should self-harm will be a permanent ban from this subreddit. Instead, try one of the following subreddits: r/Healthygamergg, r/IncelExit, r/mentalhealth, r/suicidewatch, r/Vent
5.Limit sexually explicit discussion
Enforcement varies
Graphic descriptions of sexual acts or specific personal anatomy (e.g., genitals) is not allowed on /r/self. Try subreddits like /r/sex instead.
6.No politics
Enforcement varies
r/self does not allow partisan political content. Political topics, debates, and current political events are redirected to more appropriate subreddits, such as r/politics, r/PoliticalDebate, r/PoliticalDiscussion, r/PoliticalOpinions, etc.
7.No dating/relationship/gender war posts
Enforcement varies
/r/self is not the place for dating, romantic relationship or gender war discussions. Please redirect these to /r/relationship_advice, /r/dating_advice, /r/IncelExit, /r/mentalhealth /r/Healthygamergg, /r/Vent, etc.
8.No Low Effort or Bot Content
Enforcement varies
/r/self is meant for real humans to communicate and connect with each other about personal topics. Content posted to /r/self - Should engage with the reader - Should not appear to be written by an LLM - Should be original and written by the poster; no reposting of content repeatedly, from other sources or written by other people

r/self 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/self?

No. r/self bans self-promotion outright: product links, launch posts, and thinly framed feedback posts get removed. The sub's own wording: "No spam, sale threads, promotion, giveaways, assistance/fundraising requests, or self-advertisement.". If you want eyes on your project, contribute first and look for communities with a promo lane.

r/self by the numbers

Members: 1.8M
Active right now: Not public
Posts / day: 46; 647 comments / day
Community age: 18 years; since Feb 6, 2008

What a successful r/self post looks like · 400 top posts from the last month
Median title length	Posts with a link	Posts with flair	Dominant format
50 characters	0%	0%	text posts

What gets removed in r/self

Self-promotion
r/self bans self-promo outright. Product links, launch posts, and thinly framed "feedback" posts are removed.
Low karma or a new account
r/self 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/self 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/self

Posting somewhere adjacent? Each of these has its own rules and its own removal pattern. Check the one you actually plan to post in.

See all subreddits like r/self →

r/self posting questions

Can I post links in r/self?

No. r/self accepts text posts only, so a link-only submission is rejected at the door. You can usually mention a link inside the body text, but the sub's rules on self-promotion still apply to it. Check your draft against the rules before posting.

Does r/self require karma to post?

r/self 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/self?

Is r/self strict?

Moderate, by our estimate (32/100 on our strictness scale, from its measured removal rate, 8 rules, and its stated gates). About 8% 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/self allow AI-generated content?

No. r/self 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/self?

Based on our sample of recent and top posts, activity and scores peak around Saturday 12pm UTC and Saturday 12am 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/self?

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 8% of r/self 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 2, 2026

Go deeper: how AutoMod removals work, the shadowban explainer, or earning karma the allowed way.

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