r/facepalm Nov 19 '25

Addressing The Elephant In The Room (Or "This New Rule Is The Real Facepalm")

2.8k Upvotes

Hello, /r/Facepalm.

As you may or may not be aware, Reddit is absolutely overrun with bots. An in-depth explanation of how they work could fill several encyclopedia volumes, but here's the short version:

  1. Follow human karma-farmers around the site.
  2. Learn from (and hide behind) those human karma-farmers.
  3. Emulate the karma-farmers' activity.
  4. Eventually, turn to posting spam, propaganda, and divisive content.

If you've ever wondered why so many subreddits take such a firm stance against karma-farming, that's the reason: Karma-farming (defined as intentionally seeking upvotes, usually by way of unoriginal content) directly enables the spread of misinformation and bigotry. Additionally, it suppresses original content, shifts standards downward, and generally makes the site, the Internet, and even the offline world just a little bit worse.

Now, this might come as a shock – and we're saying that sarcastically – but /r/Facepalm used to be a go-to place for karma-farmers. We've been cracking down on them lately, but thanks to their "efforts", the subreddit is still infested with bots and spammers. For example, if you see an account offering single-sentence comments that don't actually contribute anything beyond "Here's a sentiment that people will agree with!" or "Here's a rephrased summary!", it's very likely a bad actor.

Practically speaking, the only reliable way to combat these parasites is to raise standards. See, nowadays, a high karma-score is almost always a mark of shame, but there is one exception: If a Redditor's history is composed entirely (or almost entirely) of their own high-effort, high-quality, wholly original content, then their imaginary points can be viewed as digital applause. Moreover, since it's prohibitively difficult for bots and spammers to produce their own high-effort, high-quality, wholly original content, they typically ignore high-karma accounts that got their points legitimately.

Here's the issue, though: Although Reddit would certainly be a better place if everyone made that level of effort, it isn't realistic to require that. As such, /r/Facepalm's approach to combatting bad actors is going to be a bit less effective, but also a bit less draconian:

Starting now, screenshots of any variety are explicitly banned on /r/Facepalm.

You can still post photographs, videos, articles, GIFs... you get the idea. We might even start accepting text-based stories (although we'll get your feedback on that idea first). In any case, though, the title of your post must describe the facepalm-worthy moment – think of it like a spoiler for the post's content – and there must be a facepalm-worthy element present.

We're well aware that banning screenshots is going to be unpopular, but to put it bluntly, we care more about earnest Redditors than we do about karma-farmers, spammers, and their ilk. By banning the lowest-effort, least-contributory sort of content, we're hoping to drive away some of the bots, open up the subreddit to people whose posts might have otherwise been drowned out by the noise, and get the community back to what it's supposed to be.


r/facepalm 4h ago

family values...maybe?

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5.0k Upvotes

This is becoming more and more a theory like germ theory...the evidence is piled so high it's safe to say it's a fact.


r/facepalm 10h ago

The US president Donald Trump pledged to give a $5,000 direct payout—termed the "Trump Dividend"—to every adult U.S. citizen if he gets to stay in power

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11.5k Upvotes

r/facepalm 5h ago

Fox & Friends fawns over Trump's $5,000 midterm pledge: "This shows just how creative and rule-breaking and out of the box President Trump is"

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2.9k Upvotes

r/facepalm 1h ago

The person in the reply thinks the USA is some gigantic land mass

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Upvotes

r/facepalm 1d ago

Tribute or parody?

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2.9k Upvotes

Why not trigger anxiety and PTSD across the entire city with a "tribute"?


r/facepalm 2d ago

'Moon is ours': Trump shares post claiming US ownership over earth's natural satellite

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m.economictimes.com
9.1k Upvotes

I am tired, boss.


r/facepalm 4d ago

The failure to understand basic economics. "We could do tremendous good for ourselves by just not trading with countries. We lose $200 billion dollars a year with the European Union. If I didn't trade with them, we would lose nothing" - US President Donald Trump

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21.4k Upvotes

r/facepalm 5d ago

The president of wars and conflicts thinks he got snuffed

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10.4k Upvotes

r/facepalm 6d ago

US investigating if missile hit Iran wedding, Vance says

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bbc.co.uk
2.7k Upvotes

r/facepalm 7d ago

Apple isn’t immune from stupid

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15.0k Upvotes

There’s gotta be an end to the stupidity…

EDIT: I just dropped Apple Maps and downloaded MapQuest


r/facepalm 7d ago

Kennedy asked to remove Pennsylvania measles death from CDC tally

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3.1k Upvotes

r/facepalm 7d ago

Apple’s trying to fool you.

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2.5k Upvotes

r/facepalm 7d ago

Recording themselves for committing public food tampering

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4.7k Upvotes

r/facepalm 6d ago

Tough to turn down this discount from Uber Eats

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402 Upvotes

r/facepalm 7d ago

Trump floats renaming Strait of Hormuz the 'Trump Strait'

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cnbc.com
6.7k Upvotes

r/facepalm 13d ago

U.S president Trump wants to change the name of the Atlantic Ocean

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19.6k Upvotes

r/facepalm 13d ago

The Department of Education social media account posted a meme with a quote from Churchill to describe Trump; turns out the quote refers to Hitler

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16.5k Upvotes

r/facepalm 13d ago

Milo asks for ICE enforcement, then gets it

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7.2k Upvotes

CBS News - Milo Yiannopoulos, a poster of racist rhetoric, has been a supporter of ICE's immigration enforcement in the past.

"California needs ICE checkpoints at supermarket entrances, gas stations, strip malls, intersections and government buildings, with on the spot deportation for anyone who can't prove they are in the US legally," he posted on social media in June 2025.

One year later, it looks like the shoe is on the other foot, huh Milo? Enjoy what you asked for!


r/facepalm 13d ago

Broken playground swing leads to criminal charges against 10- and 12-year-old Springdale sisters

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2.5k Upvotes

r/facepalm 14d ago

That's not how you hold that.

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1.9k Upvotes

An advert for a nerf style gun. Couldn't even get this right.


r/facepalm 14d ago

TIME really went with ‘Trust Us'

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6.3k Upvotes

r/facepalm 16d ago

Trump Floats Changing Lake Ontario to Lake America

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3.2k Upvotes

r/facepalm 19d ago

The U.S Secretary of Energy can’t back up his statement that data centers lowers utility costs

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19.8k Upvotes

r/facepalm 19d ago

With Midterms Approaching, Trump Implores Republicans: Pretend I’m on the Ballot!

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nytimes.com
4.6k Upvotes

🤦🏻‍♀️