What an AMA Is, and What r/IAmA Demands Before You Post One

What does AMA stand for?

The letters AMA stand for Ask Me Anything, and the r/IAmA wiki spells out the fuller phrase in the subreddit's own name: "IAmA (as in I am a _____, Ask Me Anything)." The moderators define the format as "a new kind of crowdsourced interview," which is a precise description of the mechanics. The person being interviewed opens a thread describing who they are. Everyone else supplies the questions and votes on them, so the running order is set by the audience rather than by an editor.

That inversion is the whole point. As the wiki puts it, "because the internet is asking the questions, they're going to be a mix of serious and lighthearted, and you'll find yourself sharing all kinds of things you won't find in a normal interview." The host answers whichever questions they want and ignores the rest, which is why AMA threads read as uneven in a way a booked interview never does.

Who controls the interview

Traditional interview

• An editor picks the questions
• The order is set in advance
• The interview reads as consistent

AMA

• The audience supplies the questions
• Votes set the running order
• The host answers what they want and skips the rest

What topics does r/IAmA allow?

Two categories, and the subreddit names them both. The first is "something uncommon that plays a central role in your life," with a job as the archetype, because the moderators "want a person's topic to be something that they know thoroughly and is important to them." The second is "a truly interesting and unique event," and the wiki's standing example is "I just climbed Mount Everest."

Everything ruled out is ruled out for one of two reasons: it is too common, or it cannot be proved. The wiki's own list of disallowed subjects covers "your day, your girlfriend, being bored or drunk, weight loss, your opinion on something," and separately flags "stories about fetishes, abuse, addiction, relationships, sexual behaviors, and sexuality" as "usually unprovable." Suicide discussion is redirected to r/SuicideWatch. Being related to someone famous is not a topic. Neither is something you plan to do: "AMAs should be about something you have already done."

Commercial AMAs carry the tightest gate. A startup qualifies only if it has launched, is selling to real customers and has income. A crowdfunded project qualifies only after the campaign is "fully funded," and "if the campaign has not reached its goal, it is deemed an advertisement and will be removed." Blockchain businesses need a product "not only prototyped but actually in use in a real-world situation." One line is absolute: "Absolutely no AMAs promoting NFTs or NFT-like products for any reason. No exceptions." The frequency cap closes the loop at "one AMA per user, per topic, per 3 month period," and the moderators reserve the right to remove a business that resubmits on the clock, because "this is not your advertising platform." Anyone weighing an AMA as a channel should read that alongside Reddit's wider promotion rules, which apply everywhere the subreddit rules do not.

What proof does r/IAmA require?

Proof and verification are two separate obligations, and conflating them is the common mistake. Proof is public and goes in the post: the wiki asks for "a link to a Twitter page, an image with a sign saying 'Hi' to reddit, an Imgur link." Verification is private, happens first, and now gates the post entirely.

The moderators rebuilt this in the IamA 3.0 announcement of September 2026, which introduced "a new, more stringent set of verification standards" and the rule that "only moderator-approved accounts can post AMAs in r/IamA." Rule 1 in the sidebar now reads: "All accounts must be verified with the r/IamA moderator team to post an AMA."

The two places the team documents those methods do not match.

Question	The wiki says	The pinned mod post says
How many methods	"the following six verification methods"	"the five following methods of verification"
Bluesky private message	listed as its own method to @iamamoderators.bsky.social	folded into the social media method as "a post or PM"
Vouching by another account	"verified with r/IamA through one of the four methods listed above"	"verified with r/IamA through one of the methods listed above"
Lead time	"reach out as far in advance as is feasible"	"at least 48 hours before you intend to post"
When to submit the thread	"no more than 15-30 minutes prior to your scheduled AMA time"	"up to 24 hours before you intend to start your responses"

The wiki counts six and then, in the sixth item, refers back to "one of the four methods listed above." That is a leftover from an earlier revision, and it is the clearest sign of which document is stale. The methods themselves are stable across both: a Reddit-admin-assigned "Official" account status, a credible website hosting proof of your Reddit account's authenticity, an email carrying your username from a domain connected to that site, a verified post or private message on a trusted social platform (the moderators name Bluesky and YouTube), and a vouch from an already-verified account.

If you are scheduling, take the stricter reading of each row: start verification at least 48 hours out, and treat the 15 to 30 minute window as advice about momentum rather than a hard rule, since it exists so "redditors start populating the thread with questions" before you begin answering.

How does an AMA actually run?

Post through the AMA post type, answer by hitting reply directly beneath each question, and edit the post to sign off at the end. The wiki calls the sign-off optional but "appropriate to let the users know that you have finished answering questions." If you want the thread sealed rather than simply quiet, the moderators document a keyword: include !lock when you edit your post, which "will completely prevent any further comments, so it should be done sparingly."

Comment moderation is stricter than most Reddit defaults. Rule 3 requires that "top-level comments must ask a question," and adding a question mark to a statement is a permanent ban, not a warning: "users attempting to bypass the rules by adding a ? to a nonquestion will be permanently banned from the subreddit." The removal list also covers requests for personal favors, "I bet OP won't answer this" replies, and organised group questions, which the moderators classify as vote cheating that "risks a sitewide ban." Planting questions carries the same penalty. The wiki defines astroturfing as "the practice of an individual or group of individuals who plant questions in an IAmA post for a particular purpose. This kind of behavior will result in a permanent ban from r/IAmA."

Many high-profile AMAs no longer live in r/IAmA at all. The subreddit accepts crossposts from communities such as r/movies and r/politics, and both documents describe how, though not identically: the wiki requires "[Crosspost] or [xpost] in the title" and says AutoMod locks the copy "to ensure questions are asked in the correct AMA thread," while the mod post asks only that the title "contain the word 'crosspost' somewhere." The mechanic underneath is the ordinary one described in crossposting on Reddit, with a moderation layer bolted on top.

What is the difference between an AMA and an AMA request?

An AMA is something you host. An AMA request is something you ask a stranger to host, and the rules barely overlap.

	AMA	AMA request
Who posts	the person being interviewed	anyone who wants to see that interview
Where it belongs	r/IAmA	r/IAmARequests
Title marker	none required	prefixed [AMA Request]
Account gate	moderator-verified in advance	none
Proof	required from the host	the requester must show the subject could supply it
Minimum content	a description of who you are	"5 or more specific questions"
Duplicate rule	one per user, per topic, per 3 months	duplicates inside 2 weeks removed

The five-question rule is enforced mechanically, not by judgement: "requests without the 5 questions will be removed by a bot (so please use question marks)." The rationale is stated plainly, which is "to ensure that there really is enough interest in the person that there would be something to talk about." A request aimed at a public figure must also include a contact route, "their twitter page, their an official social media page, the contact sheet from their website, whatever," and requests that omit it are removed. That requirement does not apply to non-public figures or to open requests such as "AMA request: a farmer."

The wiki also tells requesters to think about provability before they post, with a worked example: instead of "AMA request, a murderer" you could request "AMA, someone who has been convicted of murder," because then they would have court documents as proof. Requesting a category of person rather than one named individual is explicitly the better odds. None of this is voting etiquette in the general sense covered by reddiquette; it is a specific gate on one post type in two specific subreddits.

Frequently asked questions

What does AMA stand for on Reddit?

Ask Me Anything. The subreddit name expands it further as "I am a _____, Ask Me Anything," and r/IAmA describes the format as "a new kind of crowdsourced interview" in which the audience supplies and upvotes the questions.

Can anyone post an AMA in r/IAmA?

Not since IamA 3.0. Rule 1 states that "all accounts must be verified with the r/IamA moderator team to post an AMA," and the pinned mod post says "only moderator-approved accounts can post AMAs in r/IamA." The subreddit itself is set to Restricted: anyone can view, only approved users can contribute.

How long before an AMA should I contact the moderators?

The pinned mod post asks you to "reach out to our modmail to start the verification process at least 48 hours before you intend to post your AMA." The wiki is vaguer, saying only "as far in advance as is feasible."

How far ahead can I publish the thread itself?

The two documents disagree. The wiki says "no more than 15-30 minutes prior to your scheduled AMA time." The pinned mod post says "you can post your AMA up to 24 hours before you intend to start your responses to questions."

What counts as proof for an AMA?

Public proof inside the post, such as a photo holding a sign, a linked profile or an Imgur link. That is separate from verification, which happens privately beforehand through an admin-assigned Official status, a credible website, an email from a connected domain, a post or private message from a verified Bluesky or YouTube account, or a vouch from an already-verified account.

Where do AMA requests go?

r/IAmARequests, not r/IAmA. Prefix the title [AMA Request], include five or more specific questions or a bot removes the post, add a public contact route if the subject is a public figure, and check that nobody has requested the same person in the previous two weeks.

Can I host an AMA to promote my startup or crypto project?

Commercial AMAs face the tightest rules. A startup qualifies only once it has launched, has real customers, and has income, and a crowdfunded project qualifies only after the campaign is fully funded, since an unfunded campaign is treated as an advertisement and removed. A blockchain business needs a product that is not just prototyped but actually in use. NFTs are barred outright: the wiki states no AMAs promoting NFTs or NFT-like products, no exceptions.

How often can I host an AMA about the same topic?

Once every three months. The rule is one AMA per user, per topic, per three month period, and the moderators can remove a business AMA resubmitted at that cadence, since, as they put it, r/IAmA is not your advertising platform.

What happens if I turn a comment into a fake question with a question mark?

You get permanently banned. Rule 3 requires that top-level comments ask a question, and the wiki says outright that users who add a question mark to a nonquestion to bypass the rule face a permanent ban, not a warning.

How many questions does an AMA request need to include?

Five or more specific questions. A bot removes any request that comes in under that count, and the moderators say the rule exists to confirm there really is enough interest in the person to sustain a conversation.