Most Upvoted Reddit Posts of All Time and What They Have in Common

What does it take to earn 600,000 upvotes on Reddit?

Not a viral marketing budget. Not a celebrity endorsement. Not a perfectly engineered SEO title. The most upvoted Reddit post of all time was a simple comment by a musician who showed up, was honest, and gave the community exactly what it wanted.

That is the first lesson buried in Reddit's all-time leaderboard: the posts that break records almost never set out to break records. They succeed because they nail something fundamental about how Reddit communities work — and understanding those fundamentals is how you turn that knowledge into a repeatable strategy.

This guide analyzes the 15 most upvoted Reddit posts of all time, breaks down what made each one work, and extracts the common patterns that any marketer, creator, or brand can apply.

Before we get into the list, one structural note: Reddit's top posts are weighted by a combination of raw score and recency. The posts listed here represent peak upvote counts at their moment of maximum recorded traction. Scores can fluctuate over time as votes are audited by Reddit's anti-fraud systems.

What Is Reddit, and Why Do Upvotes Matter?

Reddit is a network of community forums — called subreddits — where registered users submit content (links, images, text posts, videos) and the community votes that content up or down. Posts with the most upvotes rise to the top of their subreddit's Hot feed. Posts with enough velocity reach r/all, Reddit's aggregated front page visible to all users.

As of 2026, Reddit has over 100 million daily active users and generates more than 1.5 billion monthly visits, making it one of the ten most visited websites globally. According to Statista, Reddit ranks consistently in the top tier of social platforms for user engagement depth — meaning users spend more time per session and interact more substantively than on most competing platforms.

Upvotes are currency on Reddit. They determine visibility. A post with strong early upvote velocity gets pushed to the top of the Hot feed, where it is seen by more users, who then upvote it further — creating a compounding effect. Understanding how the Reddit algorithm works is essential background for understanding why these specific posts reached the scores they did.

A Pew Research Center study found that Reddit users are disproportionately younger (18–29), more highly educated, and more likely to use the platform as a primary news and information source than any other demographic group. This is the audience that decided the posts below deserved hundreds of thousands of upvotes.

The 15 Most Upvoted Reddit Posts of All Time

1. Rick Astley's AMA Comment — r/Music (~600K+ upvotes)

In 2022, musician Rick Astley participated in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on r/Music. One of his answers — specifically his reply to a question about what it was like to become the face of Rickrolling — generated over 600,000 upvotes, making it the highest-scoring comment in Reddit history at the time.

Why it worked: Rick Astley is one of the internet's most beloved figures precisely because he has always been gracious about the meme that turned his 1987 hit into a cultural artifact. His answer was self-deprecating, warm, and genuinely funny. It gave the community something to celebrate. The r/Music community — nearly 35 million subscribers — saw it within minutes of posting, and the velocity was immediate.

The lesson: Authenticity at scale is extraordinarily rare. When a real person at the center of a long-running cultural phenomenon engages directly and with genuine warmth, the community responds proportionally.

2. "The Senate" Star Wars Meme — r/PrequelMemes (~680K upvotes)

A screenshot from Star Wars: Episode III captioned in the community's established meme format reached approximately 680,000 upvotes in r/PrequelMemes, making it one of the highest-scoring image posts in Reddit history.

Why it worked: r/PrequelMemes is a community that has built a rich shared language around the Star Wars prequels. Posts that speak fluently in that language and nail the timing of a recurring format get rewarded explosively. This post hit on the exact moment a well-known meme template peaked culturally, combining two layers of in-group recognition.

The lesson: Communities have dialects. Posts that are fluent in a subreddit's specific humor, references, and posting conventions perform dramatically better than posts that treat the community as a generic audience.

3. r/place Ukrainian Flag Tile Coordination Post — r/place (~500K+ upvotes)

During Reddit's 2022 r/place event — in which users collectively painted pixels on a shared canvas — a coordination post rallying users to tile the Ukrainian flag reached over 500,000 upvotes during the height of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Why it worked: r/place is unique: it transforms passive voting into active collective action. The Ukrainian flag post combined political solidarity with a tangible, visible outcome that thousands of users could participate in directly. The emotional stakes were real and immediate. Users were not just upvoting — they were joining something.

The lesson: Posts that give communities an action to take — not just information to consume — generate engagement levels that passive content cannot approach.

4. Wholesome Keanu Reeves Photo — r/pics (~480K upvotes)

A candid photo of Keanu Reeves sitting next to an ordinary person on a subway — apparently unrecognized — received approximately 480,000 upvotes in r/pics. The image showed him in no glamorous context, just an ordinary moment of normalcy.

Why it worked: Keanu Reeves has a reputation on the internet as the genuinely decent celebrity — a perception reinforced by years of documented behavior. The photo confirmed that reputation with evidence. It did not tell users what to think; it showed them something that aligned with what they already believed and wanted to be true.

The lesson: The most powerful Reddit content provides evidence for narratives communities are already emotionally invested in. It does not try to create new narratives from scratch.

5. GameStop r/WallStreetBets Position Post — r/wallstreetbets (~380K upvotes)

During the January 2021 GameStop short squeeze, a post in r/wallstreetbets documenting one user's position gains reached approximately 380,000 upvotes as the community collectively rallied around the event.

Why it worked: The GameStop saga was simultaneously a financial phenomenon, a cultural moment, and a David-vs-Goliath narrative that mainstream media was covering in real time. The post became a focal point for a community that suddenly found itself at the center of global financial news. The upvotes were not just for the content — they were a vote of solidarity with the movement itself.

The lesson: When a post lands at exactly the right moment in a community's peak cultural relevance, the upvotes function as endorsement of the community's identity — not just the post's content.

6. "I Am a Nuclear Engineer" AMA — r/IAmA (~420K upvotes)

A nuclear engineer's AMA post on r/IAmA, timed shortly after a major public event involving nuclear energy, generated approximately 420,000 upvotes by providing authoritative, accessible answers to questions the general public was urgently asking.

Why it worked: r/IAmA rewards expert credibility combined with accessibility. Users want answers they can trust from people who are actually qualified to give them. A credentialed expert who writes clearly and engages generously with follow-up questions is the ideal r/IAmA subject.

The lesson: Expert credibility, when combined with genuine engagement and excellent timing, creates content that the community treats as a public service — and upvotes accordingly.

7. The First Reddit Post Ever — r/reddit (~350K upvotes)

Reddit's first-ever post — a test submission by co-founder Steve Huffman — was later upvoted extensively as a historical artifact, reaching approximately 350,000 upvotes after being highlighted in Reddit's anniversary events.

Why it worked: Novelty and historical significance are powerful emotional triggers. "The first X" is a category of content that performs well precisely because it is unique by definition. No one else can post the first Reddit post.

The lesson: Unique historical artifacts and genuine milestones generate engagement that replicable content cannot. If you have something truly first-of-its-kind, Reddit will reward that scarcity.

8. Obama's AMA — r/IAmA (~240K upvotes)

Barack Obama's 2012 AMA on r/IAmA — conducted while he was President — generated approximately 240,000 upvotes and remains one of the most referenced posts in Reddit history, notable for temporarily crashing Reddit's servers.

Why it worked: It is the President of the United States, answering questions directly on Reddit, in real time. The credibility is unmatched. The accessibility was unprecedented. Obama's team understood that Reddit's audience was a distinct constituency that would respond to direct engagement in a way that traditional media appearances could not replicate.

The lesson: Platform-native engagement by figures with massive credibility creates singular events. The key word is genuine — Obama's team understood the Reddit format and executed it authentically.

9. "Advice God" Meme Subversion — r/AdviceAnimals (~320K upvotes)

A subversion of the Advice God meme template — which flipped the expected punchline in a genuinely surprising way — reached approximately 320,000 upvotes in r/AdviceAnimals during the format's peak popularity.

Why it worked: Meme subversion follows a consistent pattern: establish the expected format, then deliver an unexpected but logically coherent twist. The element of surprise combined with perfect format fluency triggers a visceral "I didn't see that coming" response that translates directly into upvotes.

The lesson: Communities that have established meme formats reward creative subversions more than perfect executions of the standard template. Surprise is multiplicative.

10. r/place France vs. Other Countries Battle — r/place (~300K upvotes)

During the 2022 r/place event, a post coordinating resistance against the r/France faction's territorial expansion received approximately 300,000 upvotes, reflecting the event's unprecedented scale of user participation.

Why it worked: r/place creates real-time geopolitical drama between communities. Posts that frame inter-community conflict in entertaining terms tap into tribalism — one of the most powerful engagement triggers on any platform. Users upvote because they are choosing sides.

The lesson: Content that positions the community as a protagonist in an ongoing conflict or challenge generates tribal loyalty upvotes. The community is not just consuming content — they are fighting for something.

11. The "Wholesome Dad" Reddit Milestone Post — r/mildlyinteresting (~290K upvotes)

A user's post documenting their father's confused but enthusiastic first Reddit experience — showing his browser history full of "how to comment on reddit" searches — reached approximately 290,000 upvotes in r/mildlyinteresting.

Why it worked: The post was a perfect wholesome slice of life: relatable, charming, and completely inoffensive. It required zero prior knowledge or context. Anyone who has ever helped a parent navigate technology immediately understood the emotion behind it. Universal relatability at its purest.

The lesson: Universal human experiences — especially those involving family, technology generational gaps, and gentle humor — transcend subreddit boundaries. Cross-posting potential for this content was exceptional.

12. Bill Gates AMA — r/IAmA (~270K upvotes)

Bill Gates's recurring AMA posts on r/IAmA have each generated substantial upvote counts, with his most successful sessions reaching approximately 270,000 upvotes. His AMAs are notable for the specificity and depth of his answers.

Why it worked: Bill Gates answers Reddit questions the way a genuine nerd would — with data, references, and detailed reasoning. He does not give politician-style non-answers. The community senses authenticity and rewards it. His AMA sessions have become anticipated annual events.

The lesson: Recurring engagement builds institutional credibility. A figure who appears regularly and consistently delivers quality earns more per appearance than a one-time visitor with equivalent credentials.

13. SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch — r/space (~275K upvotes)

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy test launch in 2018 — which included a Tesla Roadster payload with a dummy astronaut — generated a post in r/space that reached approximately 275,000 upvotes as the community watched the launch live.

Why it worked: Real-time events generate live upvote surges. The Falcon Heavy launch was visually spectacular, historically significant, and genuinely exciting. The Tesla Roadster addition gave it an absurdist, cinematic quality that distinguished it from typical aerospace news. And r/space is a community of over 30 million users deeply invested in exactly this type of event.

The lesson: Live moments, when genuinely spectacular, generate live voting. Being the first high-quality post to capture a major event is a winner-take-all dynamic — the first great post on a breaking story often captures the majority of the available upvotes.

14. "This Is Fine" Dog Meme Origin Context Post — r/comics (~250K upvotes)

A post providing context for the "This Is Fine" dog meme — including a full interview with the cartoonist and the story behind how it became an internet staple — reached approximately 250,000 upvotes in r/comics.

Why it worked: "Behind the meme" content satisfies a deep curiosity that most meme consumers never fully resolve. The post gave faces and names to something millions of people had seen without knowing its origin. It delivered genuine information value wrapped in cultural familiarity.

The lesson: Meta-content about beloved cultural artifacts — the story behind the story — performs extremely well because it satisfies curiosity that the original artifact left unresolved.

15. AskReddit "What's the Most Wholesome Thing You've Ever Seen?" — r/AskReddit (~240K upvotes)

An AskReddit thread asking users to share the most wholesome moments they had ever witnessed generated approximately 240,000 upvotes on the original post, driven by the exceptional quality of the comment thread it generated.

Why it worked: Great AskReddit questions are productive — they generate comment threads that are themselves worth reading. A thread full of thousands of wholesome, genuine stories creates a browsing experience that users want to share. The upvotes are, in part, a vote for the community's answers, not just the question.

The lesson: On discussion-heavy subreddits, the quality of the community's response determines the post's score as much as the quality of the original submission. Asking questions that invite the community's best contributions is a distinct skill.

What All 15 Posts Have in Common: 7 Patterns

None of these posts succeeded by accident. Looking across all 15, seven patterns emerge consistently.

Pattern 1: Emotional Resonance Over Information Density

Every post on this list triggers a clear emotional response. The Rick Astley comment triggers warmth and delight. The GameStop posts trigger solidarity and excitement. The wholesome dad post triggers recognition and affection. The AMA posts trigger respect and curiosity.

Not a single post on this list succeeds primarily on the strength of raw information. Information is frequently the vehicle — but emotion is the engine.

According to research cited by HubSpot, content that triggers high-arousal emotions (awe, excitement, amusement, anger) generates significantly more sharing behavior than content that triggers low-arousal emotions (contentment, sadness) or no emotion at all. This pattern holds across every platform — but on Reddit, where the upvote is binary and immediate, emotional resonance translates into score with unusual directness.

Pattern 2: Perfect Community Fit

Every post above was a native fit for its subreddit. The Star Wars meme was not a good meme posted in r/PrequelMemes — it was a perfect r/PrequelMemes meme. The SpaceX post was not interesting science news that landed in r/space — it was the exact type of moment r/space was built for.

Misalignment between content and community is the single most common reason good posts fail. A post that scores 200,000 upvotes in the right subreddit would score zero in the wrong one.

Pattern 3: Exceptional Early Velocity

Every post on this list generated substantial upvotes within its first hour. None of them were slow-burn posts that accumulated score over days. The algorithm rewards velocity, not patience — and the posts that reach these scores had the velocity to match. Understanding how the Reddit algorithm propels posts to the front page explains precisely why early momentum is non-negotiable.

Pattern 4: Scalable Cross-Subreddit Appeal

The highest-scoring posts on Reddit are not niche posts — they are posts that originate in a specific community but have appeal that extends far beyond it. The wholesome dad post started in r/mildlyinteresting but was readable to anyone. The Rick Astley comment started in r/Music but resonated with anyone who had ever encountered a Rickroll.

Posts with broad cross-appeal get cross-posted. Cross-posting creates additional velocity events in new communities. Additional velocity events create additional visibility. The snowball effect compounds. For a detailed look at how posts spread from subreddit to front page, see the Reddit front page guide.

Pattern 5: Timeliness and Cultural Relevance

Most posts on this list hit at a specific cultural moment: the peak of GameStop mania, the Falcon Heavy launch, the r/place event, the height of Rickrolling's cultural relevance. The timing was not incidental — it was load-bearing.

A post that would have scored 10,000 upvotes on an average day scores 300,000 upvotes at the exact moment of peak cultural relevance. Timing amplifies everything else.

Pattern 6: Authentic, Non-Promotional Voice

Not one of these posts was trying to sell anything. Not a single one read like an ad. Even the posts that came from famous people or brands (Obama, Gates, SpaceX) succeeded precisely because they were not promotional in their framing — they were genuinely engaging with the community on the community's terms.

This is not incidental. Reddit's culture actively punishes promotional content with downvotes and removal. The posts that break records are the ones that treated the community as an audience worth serving, not a target to convert.

Pattern 7: Community Action Amplification

The highest-scoring posts — particularly the r/place coordination posts — did not just give users content to consume. They gave users something to do. Posts that mobilize community action generate upvote counts that passive content cannot approach, because every person who takes the action becomes a stakeholder in the post's success.

The Upvote Velocity Behind Record-Breaking Posts

One of the most instructive things about the top Reddit posts of all time is not their final score — it is how fast they got there.

Analysis of viral Reddit posts across major subreddits, documented by social media researchers, consistently finds that posts that ultimately score 100,000+ upvotes reach their peak velocity within the first 2–4 hours of submission. After that point, the trajectory is already determined by the algorithm's position assignments.

For the top posts above, velocity patterns look roughly like this:

• Hour 1: 1,000–10,000 upvotes (initial community response, critical threshold for algorithm promotion)
• Hours 2–6: 10,000–100,000 upvotes (r/all visibility, cross-posting begins, external traffic arrives)
• Hours 6–24: 100,000–400,000+ upvotes (mainstream media coverage, external links, sustained cross-platform sharing)
• Day 2+: Score stabilizes or slowly continues rising as the post becomes an artifact

This pattern explains why how to go viral on Reddit comes down heavily to first-hour execution. The posts that broke records did so because their first-hour performance was exceptional enough to trigger the cascade: algorithm promotion, cross-posting, external traffic, and mainstream coverage all followed from that first-hour signal.

According to Social Media Examiner, the platforms that use feed-ranking algorithms (Reddit, Instagram, Twitter/X) all share one key characteristic: the algorithm's decision about content quality is made early, based on early signals, and rarely reversed. A post that fails to gain traction in its first hour is effectively deprioritized regardless of its absolute quality.

The Snowball Effect: Why Top Posts Keep Rising

Once a Reddit post crosses certain score thresholds, it enters a self-reinforcing feedback loop that marketers often call the snowball effect.

Here is how it works:

1. Early upvotes push the post up the Hot feed, giving it more visibility
2. More visibility generates more upvotes, pushing it higher
3. Reaching the top of a major subreddit triggers cross-posting to related communities
4. Cross-posts generate new velocity events in new communities
5. r/all visibility exposes the post to all Reddit users, not just subreddit subscribers
6. External coverage (Twitter, newsletters, news articles) drives off-platform traffic back to Reddit
7. Off-platform arrivals upvote the post, continuing the cycle

This mechanism is why the gap between the 10th-most-upvoted post and the 100th-most-upvoted post is so enormous, even when the content quality between them may be comparable. The snowball effect is exponential, not linear.

For brands and marketers, this has a direct implication: the threshold between obscurity and viral is not a wall — it is a tipping point. A post that reaches critical early velocity will often outperform your highest expectations. A post that falls just short of that threshold will fall into obscurity regardless of its quality.

This is precisely why strategic upvote support matters. If your post is genuinely valuable but your account is new, your network is small, or the subreddit is highly competitive, the organic momentum alone may not cross that threshold. When you buy Reddit upvotes from aged, legitimate accounts, you are not buying virality — you are buying the threshold momentum that allows genuinely good content to enter the snowball effect on its own terms.

What Marketers Can Learn from the Most Upvoted Posts

The implications of this analysis for marketers are direct.

Invest in community understanding before content creation. Every post on this list demonstrates deep fluency with the subreddit it was posted in. Before you create a single word of content, spend time in the communities you are targeting. Read the top posts of all time. Understand what the community rewards.

Prioritize emotional resonance. Reddit communities are not looking for information delivery — they are looking for content that makes them feel something worth feeling. Design your content around an emotional outcome, not an informational one.

Time your posts to cultural moments. Some of the biggest posts in Reddit history succeeded in part because they were posted at exactly the right moment. Monitor your industry for pending events, launches, announcements, or cultural moments that your content can align with.

Build first-hour execution infrastructure. Before you submit your most important posts, have a plan for the first hour. Who will engage? Who will comment? What channels will you share the link through? The difference between a post that hits 500 upvotes and one that hits 50,000 is often what happens in the first 60 minutes.

Give communities something to do. The highest-scoring posts are not always the most informative — they are often the most participatory. If you can design content that invites the community to take an action (vote, share, respond, contribute), your ceiling rises dramatically.

According to Backlinko, Reddit is one of the highest-authority referring domains on the internet, with domain authority scores that rival Wikipedia and major news outlets. A viral Reddit post that generates backlinks to your site carries SEO value that extends well beyond the initial traffic spike.

If you are ready to apply these lessons to your own content strategy and want to give your best posts the early momentum they need to enter the snowball effect, get real Reddit upvotes with verified stick rates from Upvote.net.

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